Live Review: The Ghost Inside – UK Tour 2023 – The Dome, London

The Ghost Inside’s long-awaited return to touring is finally upon us and with the success of their one-off show at London’s Brixton Academy going down so well, it was no surprise that their show at The Dome sold out! Bringing the rambunctious Senses Fail along with them meant the tour would feel like a total throwback which was only amplified when it was announced The Ghost Inside would be performing ‘Get What You Give’ from start to finish! Here’s what went down one chaotic night in London!

Senses Fail opened up the show and surprisingly chose to come out to Adele which received a mixed reaction from the London faithful. ‘Can’t Be Saved’ was the band’s opening track and you could tell a lot of the fans in the venue already knew who they were dealing with. Fans singing and dancing along to the band’s charismatic performance was a common theme throughout their set with a circle pit breaking out during ‘Wolves At The Door’.

Singer Buddy Nielsen gave a touching speech about how much it meant to the band to be on The Ghost Insides’ first “proper tour back”, and even reminisced about the time they took them out on tour with them back in the States. As the set went on, the energy levels only seemed to rise and by the end of the set, both the band and the fans were sweaty as hell due to an emphatic cover melody consisting of System Of A Down’s ‘Chop Suey’, Disturbed’s ‘Down With The Sickness’, Limp Bizkit’s ‘Break Stuff’ and Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Bulls On Parade’. Safe to say everyone was all warmed up for the upcoming headline set!

By playing such an iconic album in full, the fans already knew what to expect from the set and when ‘This Is What I Know About Sacrifice’ dropped the entire room became a battleground. Transitioning smoothly into ‘Outlive’ which sent the waves of crowd surfers over the barrier for the first time and it wasn’t going to slow down from there. The London faithful became a full-on choir for ‘Engine 45’ before losing their collective minds during ‘Slipping Away’. It seemed as though everyone had done their homework on this record as each song seemed to have an echo to it as the fans sang each and every word of these tracks!

‘The Great Unknown’ delivered a swift kick of adrenaline into the fans which was needed for the room to deliver a soul-touching rendition of ‘Dark Horse’. A tsunami of crowd surfers rides the wave with a total of 25 flying over the barrier during this track alone! Keeping the pace fast and energy high was ‘White Light’ which seemed to go down better with the mosh pit brigade than the stand and watchers until the song broke down and it was time for the choir to nail the melody singalong. This was followed by a powerful performance of ‘Thirsty Three’ which certainly upped the ante and the average sweat level!

Before going on to the next song, Singer Jonathan Vigil spoke about the struggles the band had been through, including talking about the tragic bus accident the band suffered that saw the drivers pass and their drummer to lose his leg. Incredibly he is still their drummer to this day and he received a massive ovation from the London crowd. This would be the third time ever the band would perform ‘Face Vale’ however I doubt it’ll be the last as the entire crowd popped off for this one. One of the loudest sing-alongs of the evening by far and even the mosh pit crew seemed to want to leave it all on the line during this one!

Full of aggression and passion is the best way I can describe the performance of ‘Deceiver’. Everywhere you turned, there was either unrelenting head banging or people throwing it down as if their lives depended on it. Finishing off the album play through was ‘Test The Limits’, and of course, they had to get a circle pit going for it! The unrelenting track lent itself perfectly to the chaotic nature of the crowd and despite this marking the end of the album, it may have been the most beautiful piece of mayhem from the evening!

Throwing back to a more old-school time was ‘Faith Or Forgiveness’ but despite its age, it felt as fresh as the day it dropped. Some things only seem to get better with age and this song is one of those things and the reaction from the crowd seemed to validate that opinion. As the song came to its end, Jonathan jumped down from the stage to sing the final few words with the crowd! Moving swiftly into ‘Between The Lines’ meant the energy generated from the last track flowed nicely into this one so the entire room was ready and willing to continue to give their all during this explosive performance.

Despite the set drawing to a close, the intensity never subsided. ‘Dear Youth’ opened with a beautiful sing-along and unfolded into pure bliss. Closing out the main set was ‘Aftermath’ and unsurprisingly, the London faithful loved every moment of this one. Tons of crowd surfers matched with voices piercing through the band’s instrumental made for a moment that won’t soon be forgotten by anyone in attendance. As the band returned to the stage, the sounds of ‘Avalanche’ would send the crowd into a frenzy one final time. Controlled chaos filled The Dome one final time and the moment the final note rang out, smiles could be seen everywhere.

The Ghost Inside have gone from not knowing if they will ever tour to becoming one of the hottest bands out there. Their live set is truly something to behold as their sound is near perfect and their charisma and energy are up there with the best. Their choice in support only added to the thrill as Senses Fail absolutely nailed their spot! Just another incredible night in London to add to the band’s record!