“Absolute s**t show”: Ghost’s controversial “no-phones” policy leaves fans queuing for over an hour to get into gig
Ghost’s sixth album Skeletá arrives this Friday (25 April), and Tobias Forge and his Nameless Ghouls have already kicked off celebrations with a new tour, the cleverly-named Skeletour.
The band made headlines last month when Forge revealed his plans to make the tour phone-free, mandating that concert-goers place their smartphones in sealing Yondr pouches for the duration of each show.
READ MORE: “Social media has given a lot of people the false hope that their voice actually matters”: Why Tobias Forge “shied away” from consuming media while writing new Ghost album
“If you have 10,000 people at a concert and 8,000 of them are holding a phone, there’s something deeply disconnected,” he reasoned.
The announcement ignited debate on the internet, with some fans commending the phone ban, and others saying filming is now simply part of the concert experience. “Many people want to share their experience and why shouldn’t they?” one fan wrote.
Now, the decision to make the Skeletour a phone-free experience is sparking debate again, after fans at the band’s recent Birmingham show on 20 April reported a wait of up to an hour and a half to get into the Utilita Arena. Some are blaming the wait time on the no-phones policy.
“Been queuing for Ghost for 1.5 hours and still not in,” one fan writes on X. “Ropes at 6:30 and band at 8? Who’s idea was that? It’s almost like Utilita Birmingham forgot there’s 16,000 people to seat. Absolute shit show.”
Been queueing for Ghost for 1.5hrs and still not in. Ropes at 6:30 and band at 8? Who’s idea was that? It’s almost like Utilita Birmingham forgot there’s 16 thousand people to seat. Absolute shit show. @thebandGHOST #SKELETOUR #skeletour2025
— Autumn (@Fluffy_Pickle_) April 20, 2025
Another writes: “Holy shit. The queue to get into Ghost at the Utilita Arena Birmingham reaches up to the Library of Birmingham and as far as the eye can see every direction. I have never seen anything like this before in my whole life of coming to gigs in town.”
For reference, the Library of Birmingham, per Google Maps, is about a six-minute walk – uninhibited – from the Utilita Arena.
The same gig-goer claims the Prince of Wales pub – situated in the path of the queue – even offered fans pints of beer in plastic cups to ease their frustration.
Holy shit. The queue to get in to @thebandGHOST at @UtilitaArenaBHM reaches up to the Library of Birmingham and as far as the eye can see every direction. I have never seen anything like this before in my whole life of coming to gigs in town pic.twitter.com/Sr1RHXtwFY
— Kirsty Bosley (@Bozzers) April 20, 2025
At the time of writing, neither Ghost or the Utilita Arena have commented on the wait time, or confirmed it was due to the band’s no-phones policy.
“I’m not saying that all social media is bad,” Forge said when he announced the phone ban.
“I’m just saying that when it comes to the actual live show, my calling, my reason for being there is the connection between myself and everybody that I brought with me that are working in tandem to give you an experience, that experience is completely de-cocked if everybody’s just filming. Am I wrong? Am I right? I don’t know. That’s how I, and we, felt.”
In other news, Tobias Forge recently revealed why he refused to pass up an invitation to play at Black Sabbath’s upcoming Back to the Beginning reunion gig.
“We were asked to partake in the Sabbath concert, and we couldn’t – so we said, ‘We’ll just send our singer!’” he said.
Ghost’s Skeletour continues tonight (22 April) in Antwerp, Belgium. For a full list of dates, head to the band’s website.
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