Tobias Forge talks Ghost’s phone-free policy on their next tour: “It’s so hard to get people to engage”

Tobias Forge has explained why Ghost are making their next tour a phone-free experience for the audience.

Fresh from announcing their sixth album Skeletá (and therefore confirming that this upcoming tour name is, naturally, Skeletour), the singer tells Loudwire Nights that the crowd were “phenomenal” for their Rite Here Rite Now phone-free pair of shows in Los Angeles in 2023, and it made Ghost want to do the same again this time around.

• Get your copy of Skeletá on vinyl with an exclusive numbered art print

“I can speak for myself but I think there was a lot of reflection that came in as we had done the LA shows where we recorded [Rite Here Rite Now],” he says. “Because of the nature of filming, we decided to do the Yondr pouches then. And the first thing that hit us, the first night we came offstage, was the crowd was phenomenal.” He adds that, “It’s so hard to get people to engage,” particularly in big cities where there’s an abundance of live music for everyone, and gig-goers can sometimes be “blasé”.

Tobias continues of those aforementioned LA gigs that, “The face value of not seeing phones was literally like time travel. I’m not talking about like back to the ’80s, I’m talking about maybe 10 years back in time when people were generally not filming as much, whereas now in modern times it’s just ridiculous. If you’re playing in front of 10,000 people, 8,000 people are holding a phone. And we just said, ‘I wish it was like this all the time.’”

The frontman adds that he hopes and believes that fans coming to the Skeletour run will find it more “enjoyable than standing in the back, seeing 1,000 screens and the band in the back.”

Catch the band live at the following this year:

Ghost world tour dates 2025

April

15 Manchester, UK – AO Arena
16 Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
19 London, UK – The O2
20 Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
22 Antwerp, BE – Sportpaleis
23 Frankfurt, DE – Festhalle Frankfurt
24 Munich, DE – Olympiahalle
26 Lyon, FR – LDLC Arena
27 Toulouse, FR – Zénith Toulouse Métropole
29 Lisbon, PT – MEO Arena
30 Madrid, ES – Palacio Vistalegre

May

3 Zürich, CH – Hallenstadion Zürich
4 Milan, IT – Unipol Forum
7 Berlin, DE – Uber Arena
8 Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome
10 Lodz, PL – Atlas Arena
11 Prague, CZ – O2 Arena
13 Paris, FR – Accor Arena
14 Oberhausen, DE – Rudolf Weber-ARENA
15 Hannover, DE – ZAG Arena
17 Copenhagen, DK – Royal Arena
20 Tampere, FI – Nokia Arena
22 Linköping, SE – Saab Arena
23 Sandviken, SE – Göransson Arena
24 Oslo, NO – Oslo Spektrum

July

9 Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena
11 Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
12 Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
13 Miami, FL – Kaseya Center
15 Raleigh, NC – Lenovo Center
17 Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
18 Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
19 Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
21 Boston, MA – TD Garden
22 New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
24 Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
25 Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center
26 Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
28 Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
29 Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum
30 St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center

August

1 Rosemont, IL – Allstate Arena
2 Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
3 Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center
5 Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
7 Denver, CO – Ball Arena
9 Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena
10 San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
11 Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center
14 Austin, TX – Moody Center
15 Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena
16 Houston, TX – Toyota Center

September

24 Mexico City, MX – Palacio de los Deportes
25 Mexico City, MX – Palacio de los Deportes

Get your tickets here.

Read this next:

• The 25 most anticipated rock and alternative albums for 2025
• The 50 most evil songs ever
• Ghost: The making of one of the greatest rock shows on Earth