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…and so it ends (Super Mario Galaxy)

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Games with tags on October 11, 2025 by slateman

8 days, 15 hours // 120 stars

Super Mario Galaxy Complete!!!

Quick notes:

  • I am NOT doing this all as Luigi to get a true 100%.
    • (maybe one day, starting anew with this save file)
  • Comet system & world hub was annoying to keep up with
    • Too much running around just to enter a stage
    • Clunky to discover what else you needed to do
    • Addressed in earnest in its sequel
  • Flying was great in designated areas
  • Good challenge – not absurdly difficult
  • Switch 2 translation was fantastic!
    • Ran great and fantastic resolution
  • Bee power-up was fun, spring was iffy
  • Exploration wasn’t really worth it…
    • Mostly yielded 1-Ups, thus diminishing desire to look further
    • Which is, to me, the heart of the Mario series.
  • Level diversity staled as time went on.
    • Also addressed in Galaxy 2
  • Late-game challenge was appropriate. Frustrating, but never out of reach.
  • Very satisfying 100%* (again, not doing all 120 stars again!)

I loved it. Breaking this game out of its Wii shackles (I realize it was on the Switch already) is great and its upscaled assets, 4K resolution and comfort playing on a Pro controller make this the ideal version. I’m so happy I played this behemoth of a game. It boggles my mind that it was released in 2007 – that short window between moving to Maine and my latter two children. I can’t say it brought me back, despite remembering some of those stars vividly. It’s been 18 years since I played this game and 18 years prior, I was in 7th grade.

I’m diving straight into Galaxy 2 – I wonder if it’s as good as I remember!

…and so it begins (Super Mario Galaxy)

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Games with tags on October 4, 2025 by slateman

I started this blog in early 2012 and by then, both Galaxy games had come and gone. A decade ago, I wrote about my Mario Completion stats and there I reminisced about how Galaxy 2 was the third-best Mario game ever. I’ve wanted to revisit, but I am the reason these remasters exist. I could play all of this on the original hardware, via emulation…hell, I could do it on my phone, I’m sure. But convenience is king and with a Switch 2 in hand (and its 4K resolution), I was decidedly a day-one buyer, even in spite of it’s silly price tag. (Grazie, zio).

I endeavor to chronicle my progress. Do I have the patience to 100% the first game before eagerly jumping to the second? Do I even need to reach that goal? So far, so good, I must say. Galaxy is Nintendo at their most creative and I’m really quite enjoying myself. Let’s see how this adventure goes!!!

Concert Review: Geoff Tate – Silver Spring, MD – 28 September, 2025

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Concert Reviews, Music, Personal, Photos on October 4, 2025 by slateman

I saw Queensrÿche three times: in 2000, 2003 and again in 2005. And when Geoff Tate and the band split, I was firmly a member of the QR camp. The divorce was ugly and neither side looked good, however, I never really enjoyed Tate’s solo material and as the years passed, even the band’s continuation failed to inspire much passion. I was fine ending my journey with all of it, especially considering I’d seen all of Operation: Mindcrime during the last of my three concerts.

Now, it should be said that I don’t have a full recollection of that evening, with Doug fully to blame. And as Tate announced a goodbye to one of my top-20 albums ever, playing the entire record, I felt no hesitation plunking down a few bucks and driving yet again up to Silver Spring. Before we get to this night, however, I’d like to reminisce some decades.

I walked all the way to Looney Tunes to purchase Operation: Mindcrime and another record (maybe an Anthrax tape). The two-mile walk, which Google tells me takes 45 minutes, was a common occurrance in subsequent years, but at the time, I was a mere 12 years old. On the way back, I stopped at my school and some kid stole my money. What odd memories we retain. And as it came out before I was 16, I still remember a majority of the lyrics. Thus, tonight, I sang much far more than normal. I was not alone. Even the taped intros had the crowd reciting from memory, “Dr. Hamilton, Dr. J. Hamilton.” “Sleep well, you bastard.”

The band has its own light system and immediately I was impressed by the absolute clarity of things. They sounded utterly fantastic. All three (!) guitarists played rhythms, leads and interludes perfectly – almost astonishingly so. The production was reminiscent of Def Leppard or Ghost, virtually-perfect recreations of the studio creations. Unfortunately, it loses all that punch that I love about live shows and it felt manufactured – meticulously crafted for authenticity and not the gritty live performance. Tate’s vocals were phenomenal, but often buried lower in the mix with loud backing vocals lifting it all up. It’s hardly dismissive, it’s far better than some of the botch jobs I’ve seen online by Jon Bon Jovi or David Lee Roth, etc. We’re all getting older, but he did a remarkable job.

Spying on t-shirts from recent tours and it’s evident: this band plays a LOT of shows. I estimated about 100 in 2024 alone. City upon city. Geoff Tate mentioned he’s played in 66 countries. Say what you will, but that’s dedication.

He kept the between-song banter limited and played the role as frontman well, sporting a no-sleeved jacket, black cowboy hat and his trademark, thick-framed glasses. It almost felt like Mindcrime was rushed through, and Tate appeared to enjoy the Mindcrime 2 songs more, the three chosen truly showcased his skills, perhaps more than them being the best selections. But make no mistake, seeing a great rendition of the concept album that shaped my youth was just awesome.

The two songs with keyboardist/vocalist were fantastic, and the entire choreographed evening did what it intended: offer a strong sense of nostalgia presented in a lengthy and highly-curated package.

There were three songs from Mindcrime’s sequel, another trio from Empire and a pair of classics rounded out the night. None hit the highs of the main draw. The sound of Empire felt more than ever like that transitional, early ’90s time period. The classics were solid and the evening as a whole was fun. Unless Queensrÿche comes back with something worth seeing – and with a more-authentic live experience – I’m happy closing this chapter of my top-20 record…a mere 37 years after I first got into the band.


DoDonPachi: DaiOuJou DX Reco.Ver

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, DoDon Pachi, Games on September 24, 2025 by slateman

There is an awful lot to discuss about this exceedingly-rare mobile-only game. This modified version of DoDonPachi: DaiOuJou DX was released in 2007 and essentially forgotten by most until this autumn. While mobile versions were common in that era, we never had any specific information about DOJ DX. All of that changed when G-Mode ported the game to Steam in 2021, and later to the Nintendo Switch.

The game itself is a surprisingly-good translation that retains almost every part of the core DOJ experience: hidden bees, a full chaining system and well-animated bosses. Unsurprisingly, the game’s audio is the weakest part of the package, well, alongside original phone controls. On modern systems, the latter is a clear improvement, but audio is 2007-era music and effects.

All of this is standard, but even more obscure was G-Mode’s other release, a caravan-style alternative titled 弾幕検定死験-大往生編-. There’s very little information in English about this, so let’s break it all down. That name translates to Danmaku Kentei Shiken – DaiOuJou-Hen. Danmaku is the blanket term for the genre Bullet Hell. Now, the next two words are the same, in some ways. Kentei is a proficiency ‘test’ or ‘examination’. Shiken appears to be a play on words: both as a test itself but also containing the word ‘shi’, which means ‘death’. The Hen suffix just means ‘edition’, more or less. So, while translations exist out there, none of them really gave me any comprehension of what it precisely was. A bullet-hell test version of DOJ. It sounds much better in its native Japanese.

This rendition of the game was a boss-only gauntlet, pitting you against DOJ’s iconic bosses over and over with increasing difficulty. It’s quite repetitive and shallow, but let’s not forget it was a mobile game from nearly two decades ago. The game’s interest lies in the bullet patterns progressively increasing in difficulty and you can start at later levels on future runs.

OK, language and history aside, what exactly is the story behind DoDonPachi: DaiOuJou DX Reco.Ver?

This high-score variant of DOJ DX was curiously issued for one day only, back on the 30th of December, 2007. Why it was so limited is unknown, but it only features minor changes from the base game. In September of 2025, Yuuku! managed to preserve this 18-year-old mobile game and make it available for the world to enjoy via Keitai World Launcher. Considering fewer and fewer devices exist out there in the wild with this software installed, this preservation is even more remarkable.

The title itself is a double set of double entendres. While DoDonPachi’s name alone is a fun play on words, the Reco.ver suffix honors Cave’s other flagship shmup of the era: Mushihimesama. Its heroine, Reco (which I’ve always preferred to spell with a K), is the protagonist of this rendition of DOJ. The title’s full name, DoDonPachi: DaiOuJou Reco.ver pays homage to who is probably Cave’s most-identifiable character. Reco appears here with both her shot and laser and with her M, W and S modes representing green, red and blue. Each has the same laser, but the shots differ, and the latter of the two the only ones that can reveal bees, in laser form only.

The alterations found in this alternate take on DOJ are all relatively minor. The obvious difference is that Reco replaces DDP’s ships, using her sprites from Mushihimesama DX. There are several other visual changes: lives now are represented by Kiniro’s curled horn instead of ships and the GP meter is gone, moving the hyper meter upwards. Bombs have the explosions from Reco’s main game and both they and hypers have a great aquamarine hue. Level-ending screens now feature the long-haired heroine and her voice appears when appropriate, but the sound is otherwise untouched. In terms of gameplay, while the stages remain identical, combos, and thus scoring, differ greatly. The combo counter adds up much faster and is far-more forgiving. Failing to maintain the invisible GP meter results in a dwindling hit combo (à la Daifukkatsu) and dying just reduces your combo by about a third. Even after bombing, your combos continue, something the base DOJ DX allowed, unlike its arcade original. And while there was a level select in DX, one isn’t present here as this was a high-score competition.

In the end, though this alternate-reality DOJ DX may just be a ship-replacement substitute, and truly a mere novelty, its preservation is simply a miracle. It’s worth noting that Keitai World Launcher also has dumps of Guwange DX, three Mushihimesama games: the original under its own DX moniker, Futari and Gaiden, as well as demo renditions of ESP Galuda II and, curiously, the original DoDonPachi – though this last one isn’t DoDonPuchi Zero and is way better than it has any right to be. The fact that this exists at all inspires optimism about preservation and it simplifies and incentivizes others to dump titles locked to this archaic hardware. Personally, I’d love to see some of Capcom’s efforts, as a number of unique games were made in the early ’00s and effectively lost to the sands of time. Though DoDonPachi: DaiOuJou Reco.Ver is a curious bookmark in Cave’s catalogue of games, the ability to play it in 2025 is nothing short of remarkable.

Concert Review: Bruce Dickinson – Silver Spring, MD – 14 September, 2025

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Concert Reviews, Music, Personal, Photos on September 17, 2025 by slateman

After his landmark solo records of the late 1990s, I haven’t been quite as enamored with Bruce Dickinson’s last two albums. Each had its own highlights, but I’ll always go back to Accident and Chemical if given a choice.

Despite my less-enthusiastic take on these efforts, Bruce hasn’t done a US tour since I (saw him in 1998) and going tonight was a bit of a no-brainer. I got to the venue with time to spare, had a beverage and headed in, getting comfortably close, but not as near as I normally would like. The aging crowd didn’t move altogether too much, so where I landed is about where I stayed for the duration. During my half-hour wait, I gazed upon the crowd curiously; spying all the tropes of metal fandom.

With the instrumental intro beginning things, he kicked off into Accident Of Birth, a spectacular start. There are pockets of unfamiliarity in his catalogue, and though these selections were pretty good, it also meant diminished enthusiasm for sections. It didn’t help that things were generally quite slow. Even Laughing In The Hiding Bush, never my favorite, felt weak.

The air-conditioned venue was actually quite cold, never an issue for me, but Bruce was not fond and he commented on it several times, in addition to a few subdued political jabs. Nothing too forceful, but they garnered a smirk from many.

Chemical, Flash Of The Blade and the killer cover of Frankenstein were highlights from the middle of the evening. The first sounded beautiful and Bruce’s voice was as strong as ever. The sole Maiden cover would’ve been a great surprise had it not been spoiled – but the solo section in the middle was just spectacular as was Frankenstein. The band was having fun and I loved every minute of it.

Wrapping things up, we got three hits from my favorite two albums and this represented the best part of the evening. All were just awesome even if they were slower and packed less of a punch than most metal shows. Things were clear and all musicians were top notch.

Following a brief moment backstage, we were treated to the expected Tears Of The Dragon complete with an enthusiastic sing-along. I was unfamiliar with the next Balls To Picasso song, to my dismay, but this led into the finale. Bruce spoke about recording the next album and thanked the crowd before diving into The Tower, one of his best and a suitable closing to a wonderful evening. I zipped out swiftly and Google routed me on what seemed a long, out-of-the-way path home. I woke not feeling terrible the next day, can’t complain about that!!! Setlist and photos/videos to follow.

  1. Intro: Toltec 7 Arrival
  2. Accident Of Birth
  3. Abduction
  4. Laughing In The Hiding Bush
  5. Shadow Of The Gods
  6. Chemical Wedding
  7. Flash Of The Blade
  8. Resurrection Men
  9. Rain On The Graves
  10. Frankenstein
  11. The Alchemist
  12. Book Of Thel
  13. Road To Hell
  14. E: Tears Of The Dragon
  15. E: Gods Of War
  16. E: The Tower






Metal Gear Solid Δ: Does It Still Hold Up?

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Games, Metal Gear Solid on September 2, 2025 by slateman

In selecting my favorite games ever, something that’s still not quite comprehensive, one thing was certain: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is top-five. My first playthrough in 2008 impressed; my second playthrough in 2016 solidified that fact. The announcement of a modern facelift was exciting, enough to dissuade me from picking up the latest collection of titles. MGSΔ came out this past week and I’ve spent my extended labor-day weekend devouring every part of it.

My experience began in an underwhelming state. Extended cut scenes and slow gameplay are never inspirational foundations. Finding collectibles became a chore and despite the QOL improvements, the source material is mired in decades-old advancements. What was once truly revolutionary is now baseline. Don’t get me wrong – the game looks utterly phenomenal and the environments are lush. They are small, but carefully planned, unlike so many procedurally-generated environs of nowadays.

Knowing my way around (generally) certainly helped and I resorted to guides when that memory faltered. As the hours continued, I became enamored, once again, by the twisted tale of double and triple crossing agents, defections and the most bad-ass roster of personalities ever. Kojima’s attention to details and if-then scenarios is one thing that hasn’t decayed with age. It’s a cinematic masterpiece whose gameplay, updated or not, is the weakest element in 2025. Its greatness only grew as bosses were felled and the Snake’s tale advanced. As we witnessed Ocelot’s hubris. Boss’ sacrifice. Ava’s ‘sincerity’. With a pair of prior playthroughs in tow, the big picture was enjoyed on an elevated level.

This experience has only deepened my appreciation to the game and franchise and now I yearn to revisit MGS4, Peace Walker and MGSV. (Master Collection Volume 2 announcement soon?!?!) If I have to rank my favorite games anew, Metal Gear Solid 3 doesn’t move in its position. While higher-placed games have a more-fun gameplay loop, none topples Kojima’s story and direction. I’m so glad I got to play a more-modernized rendition of this title. It’s as good as I remembered.

Elden Ring: Playthrough #3 – 400 Hours

Posted in Best / Worst, Bloodborne, Games on August 25, 2025 by slateman

Super Mario Bros. 3. That was my answer for the best game ever for the better part of three decades. There was never a doubt, hardly even a competitor. Imagine my surprise when Bloodborne, a title that shares virtually no DNA with SMB3 usurped the throne. My appreciation truly grew through repeated ventures into its world and my fascination only increased from there. Its lore revealed via YouTube deep-dives, secrets through Wikis and strategies from Reddit threads. Gaming nowadays is different than in ages past. And while Elden Ring was immediately a top-20 game, a second playthrough and its vast DLC helped the title rise the ranks ALSO leapfrogging the aforementioned greatest game ever. One developer with the two most-exceptional titles in history?

Another year hence, I opted to dive back into The Lands Between. As a high-school teacher, summers allow much more free time than normal. The hours melted away; I was hooked. Best talisman combinations. Repeatedly searching the Wiki for locations, weaknesses and shortcuts. My memory is quite good, and a lot of this is familiar, but this game is massive. The sense of exploration is diminished through repeated runs but I’m never not impressed. Even still – several hundred hours down – I continued finding things I hadn’t seen. I completed questlines I didn’t witness in my prior 300 hours.

My sole summertime gaming goal was to beat the DLC and on the eve of returning with students, Promised Consort Radahn was bested. Malenia downed. Bayle felled. I didn’t complete everything – such is a daunting task. But even without those breadcrumbs, this remains the most-beautiful and expansive world I’ve ever enjoyed adventuring through.

It’s hard to know if this now trumps Bloodborne. One has potency through its first-impression weight and rich, decaying world. The other in its sprawling vastness and infinite possibilities. I’ll ponder this contest as the days and weeks pass. Months may be required. Whatever the outcome – the one-two punch by FromSoftware resides in the annals of gaming excellence and undisputed as the most-outstanding games ever released.

Fuck Yeah

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Music on August 8, 2025 by slateman

Concert Review: Metallica – Landover, MD – 28 May, 2025

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Concert Reviews, Music, Reviews on July 15, 2025 by slateman

Tonight’s Metallica concert is impossible to review without context. For brevity’s sake, it goes as follows: I got into rock music around 10: Judas Priest, Ozzy, In A Gadda Da Vida, but Metallica was my real introduction. I started at the pinnacle: Justice and Puppets and my adventure with metal went on from there. I saw them twice in 1991, already disappointed by their latest offering and the next time was in 1997. They were terrible.

We all lived through the next decade before Robert Trujillo and Death Magnetic reinvigorated the band. They’ve been excellent ever since. 2025 would be the first time I’d seen them in 28 years and I was excited. Erin got skybox seats. It was going to be great.

I left school early, drove to Erin and we muscled through rain and traffic and hit the pop-up store first. Since I lost my Justice poster years ago, I grabbed a flag of the album and we went to a restaurant. There was no rush because we got there early and hit the venue with plenty of time to spare. Despite pre-paid parking, our spot was pretty far away. We walked in and met some of Erin’s coworkers, impressed by our vantage point of the upcoming trio of bands.

Drinks were good and flowed continually throughout the night. Suicidal Tendencies opened and the rain continued on. They were one of the first bands I got into in the late ‘80s, but I only truly love a few releases. I recognized most and they closed with Pledge Your Allegiance, one of my favorites. That Trujillo’s son played with them, much as his father did decades ago, was not lost on me. It was the beginning of a long night of looking back while enjoying the day.

Setlist:

  1. You Can’t Bring Me Down
  2. Institutionalized
  3. Subliminal
  4. Send Me Your Money
  5. Adrenaline Addict
  6. Pledge Your Allegiance

Pantera followed – whom I hadn’t seen in 20 years. Having witnessed them twice (once in 1997 and again in 2001), I know full well the power these guys can produce. Despite replacing the brothers – a dismissive perspective of the situation – they sounded fantastic. Charlie may be the best drummer out there and Zakk was phenomenal. This was my first time seeing him. The setlist didn’t surprise but certainly pleased. I should have more to say about them, but it was just all an appetizer for the headliner.

Setlist

  1. A New Level
  2. Mouth for War
  3. Strength Beyond Strength
  4. Becoming
  5. I’m Broken
  6. Cemetery Gates
  7. 5 Minutes Alone
  8. This Love
  9. Fucking Hostile
  10. Walk
  11. Domination / Hollow
  12. Cowboys From Hell

The rain stopped, the skies darkened and it was time to see how well 28 years have aged my first favorite band. As Ecstacy Of Gold began, Erin asked me what song it was, while handing me another drink. It was going to be a good night.

Creeping Death and Bells began and the familiar songs sounded remarkable. One of the biggest selling points of this tour setup is how good things sound from any perspective. What are they gonna play next? I’m a fan of almost their entire catalogue and their setlists are always filled with one or two surprises. Dun dun dun…Dun dun dun DUN! My eyes widen. In the weeks leading up, I had my wishlist of songs – nothing impossibly exotic – but ever since my band covered Leper Messiah in the summer of 1992, it’s been one of my favorites. And they were playing it! “Time for lust, time for lie, time to kiss your ass goodbye!” The harmony part in the middle. This song is pure metal and I gobbled it up. And I was sold. Tonight was gonna be a great night!

On paper, these setlists just read as a lineup of words, without conveying the potency, anticipation and excitement revealed by each new line. And while only one other song shocked me, I was fully satisfied and pleased by it all. Memory Remains followed with an extended outro and impressive crowd participation. Transitional pieces help build the suspense and the first single from the new album followed – and was just wonderful. While the second song from 72 Seasons was next, it was also probably the weakest portion of the evening.

Kirk and Rob did their usual doodle, with some unfamiliar bits and a throwback to a song they only played at the 30th anniversary show. Then, the sole, lengthy track from Death Magnetic, this track has it all: clean and heavy. Melodic and upbeat. And the band killed it before another interlude led into Fuel. I don’t love this song or the album, but again, the song was better than the setlist entry. However, what followed was my second OMFG moment and one that will stick with me forever. As the synth introduced Orion, I held my hands to my head. This song, way back in 1989, defined what music could be to me. Moody harmonies. Methodical rhythmic chugging. That entire middle section. I couldn’t believe my ears.

And at that moment, the night transformed from a rock concert, a familiar revisit, to an emotional journey. I was brought back to the 80s as a teen. My mind strayed to the 90s when I was in my 20s. Throughout my marriage and parenting in my 30s and 40s. The song that changed my life was echoing throughout the stadium and the decades of my life. The band was enjoying themselves and sounded as good as ever. And tonight was one of the greatest shows of my life.

The next six songs are standard setlist fare, but James’ words plucked at my heart strings. About being family. Sticking together. One was just about as good as it could be and while I prepared to leave at this point, skipping out on Sandman, we were treated to Seek and Puppets in full. Our exit took too long, as did the drive, and the next day was a rough one. But in the end, it was a fucking spectacular concert. Memories of the drive, the bands, the people I met, the experience of a sky box – all in all, simply unforgettable.

Setlist

  1. Creeping Death
  2. For Whom the Bell Tolls
  3. Leper Messiah
  4. The Memory Remains
  5. Lux Æterna
  6. If Darkness Had a Son
  7. Kirk and Rob Doodle
  8. The Day That Never Comes
  9. Fuel
  10. Orion
  11. Nothing Else Matters
  12. Sad but True
  13. One
  14. Seek & Destroy
  15. Master of Puppets
  16. Enter Sandman

Concert Review: Ghost – Baltimore, MD – 9 July, 2025

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Concert Reviews, Music, Reviews on July 11, 2025 by slateman

Today’s initial prospect of heading to Baltimore early and venturing through the city was altered due to the near-100° temperature. We set off around 3 and it took a full three hours to arrive: quite frustrating as the city is a mere 82 miles away.

The streets were crawling with Ghost fans: some donning face-paint, several with nun costumes and more same-band-as-the-show t-shirts than I’ve ever witnessed. We parked on the fifth floor, knowing full well that the exit would be a lengthy departure. As doors opened at 6:30, we hung out in the AC before joining a couple who was pre-gaming. We all walked in together just as the skies opened, reminding us why we appreciated purchasing attached-to-the-building parking in advance. The long line to enter was due to the usual ticket and security checks, but also so phones could be stored in specialized pouches. This regulation meant we got no pictures whatsoever but also resulted in fans being more engaged, chatty and connected. Fast forwarding a bit, a guy beside us filmed a few clips of the band before being escorted out for doing so. Good! While I love to snap a few pics, living and breathing the moment hearkened back to concerts of my youth where, sometimes lamentably, no footage exists outside of my ever-fading memory. I digress.

Kairi and I waited in the merch line, got beverages and I chatted with some folks while waiting before proceeding to our seats, promptly for the 8pm start time. The stage was surrounded by tall curtains and our seats, in section 123, offered about as good a view as possible for our budget. Religious choral music echoed and we eyeballed the staff preparing to drop said curtain but as the lights dimmed, Ghost started with Peacefield via live video. When it did drop, the vantage of the large stage impressed and Papa skipped around with his usual jovial energy. The five-piece band is now joined by a trio of singers, two playing keyboards, but the stage backdrop felt subdued: a pair of monitors flanking the octet and not much else.

Banging out back-to-back new songs was unsurprising, with Lachryma following, each offering catchy choruses and pristine production. Spirit succeeded and Per Aspera Ad Inferi was an older one that Kai and I were less familiar with. What followed this, however, was a run of pure magic, mixing old, new, poppy, dark and altogether riotous fun. Faith and Majesty sounded utterly phenomenal: catchy breakdowns, spot-on drumming and Papa’s voice leading through the darkness. He spoke briefly afterwards about the state of the world and shocked my progeny with The Future Is A Foreign Land, one of her favorite songs. After a quick instrumental interlude, Cirice began, the single that truly started my fascination with the band. We were both in awe of the song choices and that sentiment did not diminish as the night continued.

Though I wasn’t familiar with the lone song from the debut LP, the next seven songs were absolute perfection, weaving the middle records with banger after banger. Highlighted moments include thrusting arms in the air, chanting, “Hail Satan” while pyrotechnics melted our faces off. The chanting chorus of Rats. The soothing beauty of He Is. Then there’s the progression of the stage show: while fire is necessary, the evolution of the large screen behind was remarkable. Changing from religious iconography to animated videos, exploding graphics – the entire presentation felt like it was worth the extra bucks the tickets cost. Massive bursts of shredded money (confetti) filling the air, Papa levitating in full uniform for an entire song – all were bombastic and thrilling.

Concluding with Monstrance Clock, one of my favorites, the crowd felt a bit weaker than I’d have hoped, but since encores are no more reliant upon crowd participation (and to be fair, Baltimore was indeed excited) a trio of songs would wrap up the night. Kairi’s face lit up upon Dance Macabre and the performance’s finale, Square Hammer turned all stage screens into video of the crowd. By this point, Ghost had accomplished it all and it was just bonus joy, icing on the delectable cake. The driving chorus evoked unbridled zeal: “Are you on the square? Are you on the level? Are you ready to swear right here, right now, before the devil?” The screen displayed devil horns jabbed skyward everywhere. The huge screens projected make-up laden faces, Papa plush dolls that were sold out front, joy gushing in all forms. A large Ghost logo descended behind the band and sparks spewed out around it. Smoke bellowed across the stage. And among the thousands, Kairi and I were jumping up and down to the beat – with our neighbor joining in. As it all concluded, sparks were raining down, Papa, arms outstretched, looking up, donning his purple jacket – absorbing the energy, represending the ultimate showman. An altogether brilliant show on all levels.

Superlative adjectives and a killer setlist aside, the best moment of the night was easy to pinpoint. Darkness At The Heart Of My Love. A song I almost dismissively enjoy, and one whose lyrics I don’t particularly retain, a certain phrase stuck with me while plucking at those chords of my heart: I’m with you…always. Looking left, I could see an enormous smile on Kairi’s face. Far less concerned with the overarching scheme of life and this concert’s place in it – she was having a great time. As the evening progressed, I secretly spied similar innocent emotions: wonder, anticipation, shock and surprise! The quieter moments produced poignant appreciation, exuberant enthusiasm during more explosive ones. This show was superb, one whose excellence was compounded by her excitement. Despite decades of age separation, the result is the same – an experience neither of us will ever forget.

Full Setlist:

  1. Peacefield
  2. Lachryma
  3. Spirit
  4. Per Aspera ad Inferi
  5. Faith
  6. Majesty
  7. The Future Is a Foreign Land
  8. Devil Church
  9. Cirice
  10. Darkness at the Heart of My Love
  11. Satanized
  12. Satan Prayer
  13. Umbra
  14. Year Zero
  15. He Is
  16. Rats
  17. Kiss the Go-Goat
  18. Mummy Dust
  19. Monstrance Clock
  20. E: Mary on a Cross
  21. E: Dance Macabre
  22. E: Square Hammer

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