Maryland Deathfest IX

May 29, 2011

Performed at Sonar in Baltimore, Maryland USA

2011 Maryland Deathfest Poster

Set List

Masked Ball

Con Clavi Con Dio

Elizabeth

Death Knell

Satan Prayer

Stand by Him

Prime Mover

Genesis

Ritual

Listen on Spotify

Watch on Youtube

On March 8th, it was announced that Ghost would be making their US debut at Maryland Deathfest due to a cancellation.[1]

“Due to circumstances beyond the control of the band, GOATSNAKE has [canceled] their appearance at MDF IX.

As a result of the cancellation, GHOST will be making their US debut at MDF IX, but please note that they will be playing on SUNDAY, and not on Friday.” -Maryland Deathfest News (via archive.org)[1]

Ghost would be the last festival guest to perform that weekend, closing out Deathfest in their devilish fashion[2] During the ritual, the backing track would start running ahead of the rest of the ministry and was quickly cut. An unfortunate incident that allowed Papa Emeritus’s vocals to shine.[3]

The crowd was filled with the faithful, who let their devotion show:

“I thought the crowd for Ghost would be a bit more laid back due to their type of music as well as it being the end of the fest and people just being tired but I was wrong. The crowd was really psyched to witness the band’s first US concert and they became really rough, while at the same time singing along to every word. [...] I ended up hanging a bit farther back by this guy in an elaborate Cthulhu costume. That’s right, hanging out with Cthuhlu was safer for all my cameras than getting fairly close to Ghost performing live, wtf?” -Metal Chris[2]

But not all were charmed by their satanic wiles:

“I was hoping the set would be more impressive but with the audience singing along so loud it was drowning out not only the singer, Papa Emeritus, but the rest of the band as well. The set was short too, lasting only around 40 minutes. They have released just one album and I was hoping they’d play maybe some covers or something to fill out the set list some but they didn’t (though they did play a Beatles cover two nights later in New York). For a band with so much hype I was hoping for a better show, but it was just OK.” -Metal Chris[2]

“Later that night, the true close to MDF was led by Ghost, whose set was tight and fun visually, but did not impress me as much as the hype suggests”-BBG[4]

Further Reading

Return of the Pit, Sonar (Baltimore, MD) Maryland Death Festival IX by Pepelis

Decibel, Are Those Pitchers Moving? by Shawn Macomber

Musical Urbanism, my guest blog on Social Shutter Re: Maryland Deathfest 2011 by Leonard Nevarez

Underground Play, MARYLAND DEATH FEST IX: May 26th thru 29th, 2011 – Metal Bands Listed and Info! by metalodyssey

Rafabasa.com, Avulsed at Maryland Death Fest by Tana

Dreams of Concioiusness, Maryland Death Fest sunday 5-29-11 by adriansol

The Agit Reader, Maryland Death Fest IX Report by Gary Spencer

Exclaim!, Maryland Deathfest featuring Neurosis, Ghost, Kylesa, Skinless by Laura Wiebe