Although founded in the old world, Ghost seem to take Europe only for their second most important market only. The small patch of the continent is filled with 47 pins. I’ve assumed that most of the major European festivals are something a musician would want to check off their bucket list. A lot of fireballs represent the various festivals across the continent. Some stick out of the Ghost Gig Globe as the festival’s logo sign (Pinkpop), others as a symbol from the festival grounds (Wacken Skull, Hellfest tree, Reading/Leeds signpost, Nova Rock entrance gate, Rock am Ring zeppelin).

Sweden

As big as Sweden may be in the metal biz, it’s small on the map. Using this space to represent the band’s founding here meant choosing between Linköping, Scandinavium, Ulevi Stadium, Ericsson Globe, Sweden Rock Festival, smaller venues around the country, at least one Papa or the Ghoulwriter/Special Ghoul, and the Grammis…. And I had built such a sweet carousel for Gröna Lund. I had to leave most of them out.

I combined Special Ghoul as Tobias hiding in that role for quite a while, with a light bulb symbolizing an idea in one hand pointing to Linköping as the founding city, and the Grammis in the other hand pointing to Stockholm where the prize is awarded. When Special Ghoul is tapped, the alleged first Ghost song Stand by him. is heard. Additionally, the Ericsson Globe has been added as a venue in Stockholm. Papa Emeritus‘ coming out as Tobias Forge on the 2017 Sommarradio show was a significant moment in the band’s history – hence the photo on the stick was included, how it was used on the radio show’s media channels.

To fill the air around the globe, I included bats and locusts, in Europe additionally, an airplane. An internationally touring band would use these a lot. I made it a Scandinavian Airlines … well, a Swede flying from Sweden could use the largest airline of the country – if not a private jet.

Western Europe

Probably one of the most important gigs you can play in Europe is at the Royal Albert Hall (next to Wembley Stadium) in London. This had to be on the globe. The Download Festival’s maschot dog in the country of its invention, of course too. For France, I thought the Olympia in Paris might be worth a pin. For Italy… well, there were no special venues in my opinion. Instead, I went for St. Peter’s Basilica, whose floor plan is often used as the band’s Grucifix. To pay homage to Ghost’s satanic concept, I added a sound feature to the cathedral. Being in Rome, it could only come with Monstrance Clock. In Italy I also added a pin for Ghost’s various marketing flings with alcoholica. The red wine from Papastrello still best suits the character of the rituals … and my taste.

Germany

For my Teutonic homeland, I have added another sound button. In this case, it is installed under Papa Emeritus I, as he appeared for the first time ever in front of an international audience in October 2010 in Würzburg. When Papa I is pressed, Ghost’s Con Dio Con Clavi chorus is heard. Yes, it is that festive. Other venues in Germany might have been more interesting than this boring hall, but again, space is very limited and the milestone was more important. For a selfish reason I chose the Berlin Waldbühne: that’s where I saw Ghosts for the first time…. and the place is really cool!

Russia

Another miniature worth mentioning is a funny little red Cardinal Copia on a white horse in Moscow. Although I also did a miniature of Luzhniki Stadium, I liked the Cardinal on the horse better. I think it was a t-shirt design that came from a fan drawing on Instagram. Somehow it fits the Russian region, because they seem to like equestrian statues there – there are several of them in Moscow. Since Russia and the Asian parts of it are very large and untoured, I included two matryoshkas in the style of the Ghoulettes. I hope I didn’t offend them by making them much rounder than they are. Come on, they are very cute dolls!

The last button in the European area is the devil with the Ghost logo, cheering on the Cardinal at the pole. Yeah, ok, that’s the stereotypical goat-headed Satan image. I figured somewhere in the band’s history Tobias will have had the idea for the name and design, so the devil may have had an influence there. In chronical order, this can only have happened in Year Zero 😉