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Ghost frontman Tobias Forge has explained why he implemented a phone ban on the band’s 2025 tour, saying that he hopes it helps the audience feel “relieved of the chains”.

It comes as the Swedish metal group brought their largest ever UK ‘Skeletour’ concert to the UK this month. The dates are seeing the group implement the “phone-free” rule that Forge had hinted at shortly before.

Already, there have been mixed responses to the strict rule put in place for the shows, with some claiming that it makes the performances feel “even more special”, while others criticised the move after it led to extensive queues in Birmingham.

Now, Forge has doubled down on the decision to ban phones at the gigs, and explained that the choice was made after Ghost made their feature film Rite Here Rite Now. The footage for the film was captured at two device-free Los Angeles shows, and it was seeing the response from fans that encouraged the founder to implement the ban going forward.

“Simply put, over the last five years, every year has become more and more and ever-growing distance I felt between the crowd and the band, or the band and myself,” Forge told Riff X’s Metal XS.

“I felt that I have a problem with watching someone [in the audience holding up a phone in front of their face]. It’s irritating.”

He added: “Maybe I’m old school, maybe I’m old fashioned. I just feel that we’re having an intimate moment, and it disturbs me that you’re filming while we’re doing this together. I’m doing something for you to respond to me.”

Reflecting on the RHRN shows, he continued: “When we did the shows in LA, I, together with everyone on stage, was amazed how great it felt and how we wish that it was like this every night, because it made us better. It felt like they were having a better time.

“People were afraid, people were worried about the concept of not being able to film or being able to access the world. [But] as soon as they’d done it, they felt so much better. That is what I want everyone to feel.”

Forge went on: “For two hours, you feel relieved of the chains that is the ether, whatever it is… By all means, tell everyone how awful it was. But I felt that I wanted to do it this way, because it made me, and it made the band and it made all the people that I spoke to, at least from the LA shows, feel so much better.

“And that is the collective joy that I want people to associate Ghost with. That’s the show now.”

They are not the first artist to opt for a phone-free policy at gigs – last year, Bob Dylan announced a very similar scheme for his UK tour, while Jack White did the same for a run of shows in 2018, and Placebo declared their 2022 gigs to be a “phone-free experience”.

Ghost are set to continue on their run of European tour dates in the coming weeks, and you can check out a full list of dates here and visit here to purchase any remaining tickets.

The comments from Forge come after he told NME about another potential change that could be on the way for Ghost. Speaking as part of a recent In Conversation interview, the musician explained that there could be an end to the intricate Ghost lore on the horizon.

“I think that there might be an end to the storytelling because it’s not productive to have this endless soap opera. If fans need the lore in order to like the band, then that element will probably be over quite soon,” he revealed.

“If there is a way where the music can be enough and remains enjoyable, though, I am just as needy as any other artist in the sense of milestones that I want to achieve. There are still places that I want to play and still things I want to do that will be another feather in my hat. I am very lucky that I’ve been able to achieve many of those things, but there are still levels of success that I want.”

Elsewhere in the same interview, Forge said Ghost are “living proof” that the concept that “rock is dead” is not true, shared the impact that Black Sabbath had on him, and hinted that he may be thinking about a career in film. Check out the interview in full above, or read it here.

As well as the tour dates, Forge is slated to play at Black Sabbath’s final concert at Villa Park in the latter’s hometown of Birmingham on Saturday July 5. The upcoming show will see Black Sabbath’s most iconic line-up – comprising Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward – play live together for the first time in two decades.

The stacked line-up also includes the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Lamb Of God, Mastodon, Alice In Chains, Halestorm, recent Grammy-winners Gojira, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Tool, Jason Momoa and Rival Sons.

Ghost’s new album ‘Skeletá’ is set to arrive tomorrow (April 25), and has been given a four-star from NME – which described it as seeing the band “broaden their musical scope and explore a tapestry of human emotion”.

“While it may not boast the same instant hooks of some earlier albums, the latest offering does instead offer something more substantial,” it read. “Through a rich exploration of genres and a new level of emotional depth, it becomes clear that ‘Skeletá’ was made with a new vision in mind, and comes as the promising start of a new Ghost chapter.”