GHOST: 2 BIG TO RIG FILM REVIEW
- 11 hours ago
- 6 min read
When Ghost announced Skeletour back in October 2024, it was proclaimed as their biggest tour ever, with hopes of taking the new live show all over the globe. Skeletour kicked off in Manchester on 15 April 2025. Fast-forward to 2026, and after just two US legs and one UK/EU leg, the plug was pulled.
So, what happened?
Global economics? The current hardships facing the touring industry? Those things are very likely factors, but there’s also a much simpler explanation: the show was “2 Big To Rig.”
With Ghost being my favourite band, I was lucky to attend all the UK shows, as well as the Scandinavia dates (including the iconic homecoming show in Linköping) and even flying out to New York for their Madison Square Garden debut. I think I'm as close as I can be to be qualified enough to say from first hand experience I can see why this show may have hit a wall when it comes to the logistics, but on the flip side, it is without a doubt one of the best stage shows I have seen any band ever produce (and I promise I’m not being biased), maybe the closest comparison being when I saw Roger Waters’ ‘The Wall’ tour in 2013.
With this unfortunate ending for the tour, along side the controversial but in my opinion, satisfying, phone ban, many fans were left in the dark when it came to knowing what was happening at this show we spoke so highly about. This is where Ghost’s latest cinematic release ‘2 Big To Rig’ comes in. Shot in 16mm Kodak film across two nights in Mexico City (a third night was planned but was unfortunately cancelled due to frontman Tobias Forge contracting food poisoning…more on that later), the movie showcases Skeletour in almost all it’s glory. I say almost as two songs that were performed were cut from the release. The film also gave an insight from some of the crew what putting together the show was like with all its complications.
‘2 Big to Rig’ as a title caused quite a bit of chatter online due to it being reminiscent of a statement that Donald Trump had previously used in his election campaign. Having said that, given the costs in the touring industry being inflated as a consequence of many tariff changes, as well as many other geopolitical effects on the music industry in the current political climate, I guess you’ve got to laugh at the thing that ruined your tour otherwise you’d cry.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
My first viewing of the movie was in IMAX (my first ever IMAX experience), and I’m really glad we went ahead with that decision as I feel like I was really able to have the full immersive experience, from the visuals of the 16mm film, to the booming surround sound that honestly compared to being back at the shows in 2025.
At the beginning of the film, we get a rare glimpse of Papa Perpetua giving a pep talk to the band before taking the stage, however the lines between Papa and Tobias blur slightly as this is done in his civilian “Forge” voice which differs to that on stage. As a fan who is used to seeing Papa and Forge as different entities, it was a bit of a brain short circuit moment.
As the choir of ‘Peacefield’ escapes the PA, we see the Nameless Ghouls take their spaces, crew members locking in ahead of the show and Papa take his place in front of a camera in the “underworld” to sing the first verse onto a video stream before the curtain drops to reveal the band.
One thing I noticed which surprised me was how a slight lyrical fumble was kept into the cut. Forge is a perfectionist. We know this. I was lucky enough to attend both LA shows that were filmed for their previous movie ‘Rite Here Rite Now’, and I remember noticing how much the audio had been overdubbed and every kink was ironed out in the final release, which made me feel a little bit robbed of being able to relive the show I saw. This seemed like a more authentic experience, and I like to think that Tobias has let go a little bit and knows that it’s okay to keep stuff like this in, it keeps the experience real. Another comparison to' RHRN' that I think was fairly noticeable almost instantly was how much slower the cuts were in this movie, and I honestly preferred it, it gives you much more time to savour the moment and take in what you are seeing. We are so used to living in a fast content, attention span killing digital world, taking the time to slow down feels like a much needed escape. I think it being shot on 16mm had a major role in this decision.
At this point I’m already welling up, a friend of mine summed up the visuals perfectly by saying “it’s like watching a memory”, a little hazy and not fully clear, but still so powerful and nostalgic. You feel like you are back there, not just at the show, but back at that moment in your life. I am back to running on 2 hours sleep getting from one show to the next, but having the time of my life.
We switch from black and white to colour for ‘Lachryma’, which is very fittingly blue heavy in the light design, before going into ‘Spirit’ and one of my favourite parts of the set, ‘Majesty’. The visuals for ‘Majesty’ were one of my favourites of the entire show live, so I was excited to see how this would be portrayed on film, and it highly met my expectations. It involves Papa V being lifted into the air behind the drums while the screens show some very trippy kaleidoscopic effects as he sang. Now there has been a lot of speculation from seeing the shows that this Papa was a body double. Were we any closer to finding out more on this? No, of course not, that would break the illusion. I can 100% confirm the parts that were pre-recorded were Tobias, but that guy actually on stage? I’m still not convinced.
We then get our first cut away sequence that shows the day that unfortunately, how things on tour can go wrong. Ten minutes before taking the stage of the first of three nights in Mexico, it was announced that the show would no longer go ahead due to Tobias Forge being too sick to perform. According to an interview in Metal Hammer, Forge tried to make it happen, but even after having an IV drip administered and going as far to say “can we get a diaper?”, the sensible thing to do was to whisk him away to hospital to recover. That ambulance scene was a hard watch, but what was harder was seeing how disappointed the fans in the venue were.
Apologetically, Papa takes to the stage to discuss the matter, and ever the jokester referred to himself as “Poo Poo Perpetua”, and you are reminded why this band is so captivating, the humour mixed with the theatrics as well as of course, amazing music.
The film followed a pretty standard recollection of the show, which you can read in detail here to know everything that the show contained. The other two cut aways showed interviews with the crew, setting up the giant ‘grucifix’, testing the pyro, touching up the costumes and an exclusive interview with manager Kristen Mulderig. Fans who are worried that the concert is too disrupted by behind the scenes stuff need not fret, as I’d say its about a 90:10 split
After the 'Square Hammer' finale, we see the band and Papa walk back to their dressing rooms, with Papa thanking and hugging all those involved to make it happen, you can feel a sense of relief as he makes his way into his room alone, removes his coat and ponders into his dressing room mirror as the credits roll out. And one final post credit gag? A curly animation of the word “Slut” (The End in Swedish).
This movie release marked the official end of the Skeletá era and the start of Ghost’s indefinite hiatus. It was a bittersweet watch, almost being reminded that you may not get to experience this euphoria again for a while. But I think it solidified that this is a band worth waiting for.
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