Ghost and Amon Amarth played the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre St. Louis in Maryland Heights, MO on August 11 and the crowd was a little confused. Prior to the show, the venue posted a statement that in part read “Face paint or masks covering the face are NOT allowed while entering the venue or purchasing items at concessions. Any face coverings must be removable upon request.” Which is kinda like banning Halloween constumes at a Halloween party, right?

Of course Ghost and Amon Amarth fans showed up in costume anyway, with some being turned away and others being asked to remove their facepaint. One Redditor wrote that “there were communications issues like crazy- many of us got contradictory emails regarding what we were supposed to do prior to, where we were to go and so forth but tbh, that’s fairly normal with large venues. Still, bit of a cluster fuck.” One other fan wrote that “my encounter was deeply unpleasant and I knew it was a fat load of shit.”

The venue has since apologized, saying the issue wasn’t caused by Ghost and that the ban was solely their decision. “Thanks to everyone who joined us for an amazing Ghost show last night. On behalf of our crew, we’d like to apologize for a miscommunication about removing face paint. This was not directed by Ghost. If you experienced issues at last night’s show, please reach out to us so we can improve for future shows.” Ghost also chimed in themselves, adding “We wish to inform you that we will ALWAYS encourage creative expression, we will NEVER stifle it.”

The whole situation seems kinda weird, considering the venue explicitly stated their stance and I’m not sure where the “miscommunication” came into play… other than the fact that everyone was pissed and the venue needed to apologize. It also probably would’ve helped if the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre St. Louis explained why they had a ban on facepaint and masks. Hopefully it’s not due to the horrifically-dystopian practice of facial recognition technology at venues.