Artist: Achille Lauro
Why You Want to Watch: Italian artist Achille Lauro performed his track “Incoscienti Giovani” for the Olympics closing ceremony. Filmed at the Verona Olympic Arena, it’s all so elegant – and a departure from Achille Lauro’s regular genre (rap, hip-hop). Click on the photo to check it out.
~Dagmar
Screenshot of Achille Lauro @ the Olympics
Lera Lynn @ Triple Door – 2/19/2026
Photos by Kirk Stauffer
Lera Lynn took the stage as the faint background sound of silverware on plates quickly changed to a loud applause. The Triple Door dinner theater was the perfect venue for the first stop on the west coast leg of the Ruin Me Tour. Backed by a three-member band – Todd Lombardo (guitar), Robby Handley (bass), and Dominic Billett (drums) – the four are on the road in support of Lynn’s eight studio album, Comic Book Cowboy. They played a wide range of material from Lynn’s large catalog that was met with an enthusiastic response. Lynn’s encore included the easily recognizable “My Least Favorite Life” from one of her many HBO True Detective appearances. Collaborator Peter Bradley Adams, best known as a member of the folk-pop duo Eastmountainsouth opened, and Lynn joined him for a song mid-set.
Lera Lynn – Photos by Kirk Stauffer
Peter Bradley Adams – Photos by Kirk Stauffer
Lights @ Showbox – 2/18/2026
Photos by Kirk Stauffer
Canadian singer-songwriter Lights (born Valerie Poxleitner) recently headlined at the Showbox in Seattle during a stop on her Come Get Your Girl Tour. Backed by guitar and drums, she’s on the road in support of her sixth studio album, A6. Showing a genuine rapport with the audience, Lights delivered a set that drew a sustained and enthusiastic response from the crowd. And when she mentioned that she’s performed in Seattle numerous times and that there were many familiar faces, the audience went wild. She jumped off the stage and into the photo pit several times to be face to face with those at the barrier and held hands with many of them. Lights’ performance was very well received and will surely be talked about well beyond the venue doors.
Lights – Photos by Kirk Stauffer
Texas born country music revivalist Charley Crockett and his tight as a drum 5 piece backing band did their best to transform Seattle’s typically genteel and refined (and absolutely gorgeous) 5th Avenue Theatre into a lively honky tonk last night. The Grammy winning Crockett is touring in advance of his next release, ‘Age of the Ram’, slated to drop in April. A second sold out show goes off this evening at 8pm.
Crockett’s demeaner and stage show is a pleasing combination of glitzy production and stagecraft mixed with straight down the middle of the highway, old school C&W (looks like Vegas, sounds like Merle!). He spends precious little time gabbing with the audience, instead preferring to knock out a crowd and ear pleasing blend of traditional country sounds mixed with traces of blues and soul. As lovely as the 5th Avenue is, this show was positively crying out for a Texas sized dance floor. There were plenty of brand new hat & boot bedecked urban cowboys and cowgirls two stepping in their seats and a few intrepid souls dancing in the aisles and alcoves of the theater. I find it heartening that an artist so true to the origins of Nashville style C&W circa the heyday of George & Tammy can command two well attended shows at a Seattle theater the size of the 5th.
Thursday’s show opened with a well-received set by Seattle’s Brudi Brothers. The three-piece sibling act plays a winning brand of what I think of as ‘cowboy movie C&W’. Their performance brought to mind the comforting and intentionally corny music of performers such as Gene Autry and Tex Ritter. The Brudi’s singing, whistling, and yodeling met with much approval from the audience, who rewarded the brothers with a standing ovation at the conclusion of their short but satisfying set.
SEATTLE (February 15, 2026) – For a band that built its early Northwest following in clubs like El Corazon, Sunday night at Climate Pledge Arena felt like both a coronation and a communion. Ghost brought its SKELETOUR WORLD TOUR to a sold-out arena, transforming the sleek Seattle venue into a towering cathedral of smoke, light and sacrament.
Over the years, the Swedish theatrical rock outfit has steadily climbed the local venue ladder, from intimate theaters to amphitheaters, but this production marked their most ambitious Seattle staging yet and a return to the Climate Pledge Arena. Fans who’ve traveled abroad for the band’s massive European festival sets finally got a comparable spectacle at home.
The stage design was monumental and meticulously layered. Multiple risers gave the Nameless Ghouls commanding perches, while enormous backdrops shifted throughout the night, stark black one moment, an ornate stained-glass cathedral the next. Dominating it all was an illuminated inverted cross lighting rig suspended overhead, tilting and descending at dramatic angles. Bathed in white, blue and blood-red hues, it cast an almost liturgical glow over the 17,000 + faithful below.
Strategic CO₂ plumes erupted in rhythmic bursts, punctuating riffs and choruses like exclamation points in a sermon. The effect wasn’t just theatrical, it reinforced what Ghost has always framed its concerts as: ritual.
The congregation understood the assignment. Robed “clergy” members roamed the concourse. Faces were painted in skeletal homage to past Papas. Others donned variations of papal miters, glittering jackets or full-on ghoul regalia. In a rare and increasingly refreshing move, the sea of glowing cell phone screens was absent. This was a device-free show; phones were sealed in Yondr pouches, forcing full immersion. The result was palpable, eye contact instead of Instagram, communal singing instead of recording. The energy felt focused and unified.
Notably, there was no opening act. No warm-up sermon. Just Ghost.
The 22-song set traversed the band’s catalog, balancing newer material from Skeletá with cornerstone anthems that helped elevate them from cult curiosity to arena headliners. Longtime devotees were rewarded alongside newer converts, the pacing carefully designed to ebb and surge.
At the center stood Tobias Forge in his latest incarnation, Papa V Perpetua. Where previous personas often leaned heavily into exaggerated theatricality, from the imperious early Papas to the mischievous charm of Cardinal Copia, Papa V presents a more restrained, controlled presence. The half-mask design allows greater vocal freedom, and Forge’s singing reflected that: clearer highs, more sustained phrasing, and a confidence that prioritized musicianship over caricature.
Still, there was an intriguing tonal shift. The performance carried a weight that felt intentional. During “The Future Is a Foreign Land,” a contemplative hush settled over the arena before swelling into a unifying chorus. Whether reflecting broader global anxieties or simply the narrative arc of the current album cycle, the moment resonated. It was less wink-and-nod spectacle, more pointed meditation.
That gravity didn’t dampen the celebration. Crowd reactions to established favorites were thunderous, the arena cheering in unison. The encore sealed the evening with undeniable arena-ready triumph: “Mary on a Cross,” “Dance Macabre,” and the ever-commanding “Square Hammer” turned the ritual into a full-scale exorcism of energy. Thousands sang in unison, arms raised not in worship, perhaps, but in shared catharsis.
If earlier eras of Ghost reveled in camp and pageantry, SKELETOUR’s Seattle stop showcased a band comfortable in its scale and evolving identity. Bigger stage, sharper vocals, tighter thematic cohesion. The mystique remains, but it’s now backed by arena-level confidence.
For Seattle fans who’ve watched Ghost ascend through the city’s venues over the past decade, this performance wasn’t just another tour stop. It was proof of transformation, from cult favorite to commanding arena force, and a reminder that the ritual continues to grow louder with each new chapter.
