Falling over mid-gig with your electric guitar in-hand is unideal at the best of times, but we imagine it would be a far more traumatic experience if that gig happened to be with Swedish hard rock group Ghost.
Why? Well, rather than contending with jeers from the front row, you’d have to tackle the intimidating onstage sets Ghost concerts are known for: raised platforms, ferocious pyrotechnics, darkened stages and helmets with minimal visibility to protect your identity.
Unfortunately for one Nameless Ghoul at a Ghost concert last Friday (September 2) in Alabama, that is exactly what happened, when the anonymous axe slinger lost his bearings and took a nasty-looking tumble off stage while the band were in the midst of performing Year Zero.
With the surrounding fires and particularly ominous track choice – which begins with a choir chanting the names of the six kings of hell – it looked as if the poor Nameless Ghoul was quite literally falling into the underworld.
Luckily, the musician – real name Justin ‘Jutty’ Taylor – quickly recovered from his descent, and managed to claw his way back into position to continue the track.
The tumble – and Taylor's triumphant reemergence from the flames – can be witnessed at the 4:20 mark in the video below.
Though Taylor – also known as ‘Swiss’ – would later address the trip on social media, saying, “I meant to do that,” it certainly didn’t seem that way. Kudos to Swiss for his swift recovery, though – the mark of a true professional Ghoul.
Swiss’s inclusion in the lineup of Tobias Forge’s hard rock outfit was revealed in May this year, after an end-of-tour photograph let slip the musicians assuming guitar and bass duties for the recently concluded Imperatour.
The Nameless Ghoul isn’t the only high-profile guitarist to take a mid-gig tumble this year. In July, Tom Morello experienced a far more aggressive mishap, as he was accidentally wiped out by a security guard in pursuit of a stage invader.
Ghost are currently making their way through their North American tour with Mastodon and Spiritbox, and are next scheduled to play tonight (September 6) at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida.
For a full list of dates, visit Ghost’s website.
“I would say he’s underrated in the echelons of guitar. Honestly, there’s no-one close”: Steve Vai reveals what it’s like to work side by side with fellow Frank Zappa alum Adrian Belew on the BEAT tour
“I think Eddie got rubbed up the wrong way because we had another superstar guitar player in our lineup”: Eddie Van Halen apparently left Peavey because it signed a second standout shredder – Joe Satriani
