im crying copia went to the side of the small stage when it was piano time and gave a soft little ‘hi :)’ to the crowd.
also man totally forgot like a whole two lines of ‘if you have ghosts’ msnsnd he’s so real
also in the beginning he was like: i hate tuesdays let’s make it friday now, okay? and would check back and be like ‘what day is it?’ and the crowd would yell ‘friday!’
and then when he left and came back and was like ‘what are you still doing here it’s time to go— it’s a school night!’
i luckily tested negative for covid this morning meaning i was FINALLY free from quarantine isolation just in time to go to the ghost concert!! this is my 5th ritual in as many years and it may have been the best (though, you never forget your first 😉). here’s my ghost kia forum night 1 concert breakdown of best moments, in no particular order!
cumulus and aurora ghoulettes twirling each other, blowing kisses to each other, stroking each other’s cheeks. this one was for the dykes <3
popia, drawing out the ending to mary on a cross: “are you guys still saying cross?? I want you to say MARIJUANA!!!!!”
ABSOLUTION F U C K E D LIVE!!!!
Respite ALSO fucked like the BASS IN THE BEGINNING?? I FELT IT IN MY CHEST IN MY LUNGS, I THINK IT MADE MY HEART BEAT DIFFERENTLY. SOUL RESET. I almost cried when copia left the stage thinking about how this is probably my last time seeing him (I completely forgot the encore existed I was too swept up in It All ™ you know?)
Dancing Skeletons. They better release the film because I want to study it to learn their dance.
they had two stages set up, the normal one up front and a mini set up in the back with a grand piano and several chairs. more on that in a sec.
Seestor gave papa a boxing robe and gloves for “fighting” his way back from the small stage to the main stage. the crowd started barking at him to hype him up like he was actually about to enter a boxing ring lmaoo
when he got to the back stage papa said it was so nice to see the people in the back “in the stevie wonder seats” lmaoooo
then he said he wanted to bite us???? and had us all snarl at him like we were biting dogs. deranged behavior. love him.
okay no my true fav moment was the orchestral arrangement of if you have ghosts. it put me in such a throwback to the first ghost ritual I attended in london when he took time to introduce each band member just as ghoul. 5 years later and on another continent, it is an even more beautiful arrangement of the song. The band members were 2 cellists and a grand piano player—I couldn’t tell if the woman to the far right was playing a theremin or vocalizing—if anyone knows can you tell me?
the skeletons picked papa up at the stage right mini stage and had him like crowd surf on top of them all the way back to center stage it was AWESOME?? I hope they got a cool overhead shot of it for the recording.
they definitely knew we were all anxious he was dying tonight and there were many moments where papa faked us out that he was dying. after the first or second song he made a comment like “ah we are quickly approaching the end of this era” and later when he told us to “not be sad it’s almost over, you’ve had a good fucking time and then it must end” I couldn’t help but think he was talking about more than just the concert
on a related note, when the skeletons first came out in twenties they circled papa and I think it was a deliberate fake out/homage to when he ascended in mexico city last year when the nuns circled him.
met many delightful ppl giving away handmade bracelets, stickers, and trinkets, as well as someone who had scooped up a bunch of mummy dust bucks from the confetti gun and was passing them out by the exit 🥰💜 u people made my day
anyway here’s that haul:
this has been the update from new plushia at the forum, goodnight folks!
There's so much to unpack here. Mikey and gerard with the matching crisscross applesauce hands in lap pose. Gerard staring at the camera like he's looking at god or perhaps joan of arc. The pure "coolest kid on the fifth grade playground" energy frank is exuding. Ray's...jeans. yeah. Looking at his jeans. They're nice jeans. He should wear them again. Im saying this in a normal way. That's it.
Spoilers that I've scraped from multiple sources about the 1st LA Forum show-
1) Twenties and If You Have Ghosts was played along with the regular setlist
2) Papa had a boxing robe and gold boxing gloves during Twenties
3) The ghoulettes had black dresses and black veils on during If You Have Ghosts
4) There was a cello and grand piano on stage during IYHG. There is a few sources saying that Cirrus (keytar ghoulette) played the cello and Cumulus (keyboard ghoulette) played the grand piano during it
5) Papa Nihil did his saxophone solo, but he was played by Nihil's actors from the chapters, rather than Swiss
6) There were skeleton dancers during Dance Macabre and Twenties. At one point, Papa was lifted up by them (there's photo proof that Ryan, the ghost photographer, has asked not to be reposted)
7) Mountain's drumkit was moved to the middle front of the stage
8) There was two stages, the regular one and one in the crowd that Papa went on during Twenties
Also after Mummy Dust he asked Kevin to get Ashley to grab his shoes and she brought new ones on for him because his current ones were too scuffed I think.
But then. She put them on for him like he was a little kid ansnsnsnsnz and he hopped from foot to foot as she changed them and made little Copia Noises while trying to keep his balance. It was v cute.