As the great Roky Erickson said, “If you have ghosts, then you have everything.” This year we definitely had Ghost.

On the 21st of August the Nameless Ghouls once again came out of their shroud of mystery and brought us a new album. With its release they began a US tour to unveil Papa Emeritus the third and the new album titled Meliora. Within the first week most of their shows had sold out, including the Los Angeles show which was the closest to Inland Empire fans.

This reviewer lost hope of being able to see them live and starting a tradition of seeing them every tour. I had forgotten that if you have ghosts then, then you have everything. Luckily enough, a good friend reminded me of this and we were able to go all the way to San Diego to attend one of their “rituals,” as they say.

On the road trip there I began to wonder if it was such a good idea to go on a school night, but as soon as I heard their pre-show music I remembered why it was a must to see them.

With their intro music starting I could feel the nostalgia kicking in from the first time seeing them. Smoke began to rise from the ground as the lights dimmed; then one by one, the Ghouls began to appear. With their appearance an almost out of this world sound began to start and left as quickly as it came. The drums almost like thunder began to roll in like a storm and with the bass shaking the whole venue there wasn’t a single person who could withstand the infectious groove of the Ghouls’ bass line.

Then through the shadows appeared the successor of the previous Papa. Papa Emeritus III’s appearance was surreal; with his mere gaze he had the crowd stunned. His voice had an even stronger effect; the whole crowd was moving as if they were being controlled by the music. With even more charisma than his predecessor, he had the crowd in the palm of his hand all the way to the end.

The Ghoul playing the keyboard was very hypnotizing, and when I thought it couldn’t get better, he brought out a keytar to do his keyboard solo. They also did something very new: they played a couple songs as an acoustic set which was just as amazing as the original. Papa had the whole crowd participating to create percussion for them as they played. Unfortunately he did not have a kazoo and couldn’t witness his unhuman-like kazoo skills. Nonetheless his voice was already enough to have us gazing at him mindlessly. We were also able to witness his new tuxedo which he uses for special occasions.

This being the last show in North America, it certainly was a special evening. Before they left us, Papa shared with us some words of wisdom and why we should all care for one another, and with that they performed their last song, “Monstrance Clock.” Everyone in the crowd knew the song and at one point they stopped playing and the crowd was still singing without their help.

At the end of the night I felt fulfilled and knew that if I had Ghosts, then I had everything.