{"id":24672,"date":"2025-10-29T04:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T04:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/24672\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T04:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T04:01:10","slug":"john-5-stops-in-orlando-for-the-perfect-halloween-mix-of-horror-and-guitar-pyrotechnics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/24672\/","title":{"rendered":"John 5 stops \u2028in Orlando for the perfect Halloween mix \u2028of horror and guitar pyrotechnics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"John 5 Credit: Jen Rosenstein<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t wanna do anything else on Halloween but perform.\u201d<\/p>\n

When guitarist John 5 hits the stage in Orlando Halloween night, it won\u2019t just be just another stop on his tour with Richie Kotzen; it\u2019ll be a full-blown monster mash of metal and melody.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really love being on the road,\u201d John 5 tells Orlando Weekly. \u201cYou know, a lot of people aren\u2019t cut out for it, but I just really, really enjoy it. It\u2019s super relaxing.\u201d<\/p>\n

This fall\u2019s co-headlining Ghost tour is his latest solo adventure, showcasing songs from his 11th studio album, Ghost, an entirely instrumental outing that blends horror-inspired aesthetics with virtuosic guitar work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a guitar that came out a couple of years ago called the Ghost,\u201d John 5 explains. \u201cIt\u2019s all white, beautiful and it just fits me perfectly. And it\u2019s attributed to the guitar, but also we all live with ghosts, and we don\u2019t even really know it. It is like we\u2019re surrounded by ghosts, so it just felt like the right title.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ghost record, like much of John 5\u2019s work, moves between genres with eerie ease \u2014 from jazz and rock to blues, country twang and straight-up metal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an amalgamation of all these different styles of music,\u201d John 5 says. \u201cWe\u2019re incorporating that in the show too, and recording all these concerts. I want to put out a live album called A Live Ghost. We\u2019re going to record a bunch on Halloween, so that\u2019ll be special.\u201d<\/p>\n

For John 5, both a solo artist and an in-demand sideman with sundry grisly metal acts, there\u2019s no better time to tour than around Halloween. His lifelong love of classic Universal horror movies, from Frankenstein to The Creature From the Black Lagoon, is woven through music.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember having a little Frankenstein doll when I was five,\u201d John 5 recalls. \u201cI loved all those Universal movies: Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy. That love never goes away. I incorporate that in my show, and it really is a perfect time for me to tour around Halloween because it just fits so perfectly. The fans eat it up. It\u2019s still with me today; nothing really has changed since I was a little kid. \u201d<\/p>\n

The Halloween show in Orlando is personal for the axman, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy kids live in Florida, so it\u2019s gonna be a wonderful experience. I\u2019m looking forward to that show more than any show on the whole tour,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

His admiration for horror runs deep and seeps into his shows, where visuals and lightning-fast riffs create a creature between a rock concert and a haunted house.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love The Shining, Carrie, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist,\u201d John 5 says. \u201cThose really stand the test of time, and that\u2019s what is difficult with horror movies. They\u2019ll always be relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his macabre inspirations, John 5\u2019s work ethic is as disciplined as it is daring. With Ghost, he recorded the album live in the studio, no studio stitching or endless edits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved it,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t have a home studio, so I just love to get things down so you don\u2019t even have to think. And that\u2019s how musicians were like back in the day. Just rehearsing these songs before I go into the studio, and it really helps you be a better musician.\u201d<\/p>\n

That same dedication shows up onstage and even in his daily routine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very health-conscious all the time but especially on the road,\u201d John 5 explains. \u201cI try to go to bed around the same time every night because getting sleep is the most important thing you can do, eat right, and take vitamins. It\u2019s not the rock & roll answer people expect, but it\u2019s true. That\u2019s how I stay ready for 50 shows in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between Ghost and his time with Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie and M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce, John 5\u2019s career continues to evolve without losing its spark.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one of the best touring experiences of my life, and to get to play with the guys and play those great songs, I don\u2019t know if that\u2019ll ever be topped,\u201d John 5 says of his time with the Cr\u00fce in particular. \u201cIt was just so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

John 5 started touring in 1994, at the age of 24. Next year, he\u2019ll be embarking on a 50-show, 50-state tour \u2014 with no days off \u2014 slated to begin in Alaska in October. But, still, his focus remains on evolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am always trying to improve,\u201d he explains. \u201cA lot of people get comfortable, but I\u2019m always learning and doing research and getting as good as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

For John 5, Halloween night in Orlando is a celebration of everything that\u2019s shaped him: the monsters, the music and the magic of doing what he loves most.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so lucky and I\u2019m so fortunate to be doing what I am doing. I think that\u2019s the meaning of life \u2014 doing what you love \u2014 and luckily that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s daily dose of what matters. Subscribe to The Daily Weekly.<\/p>\n

Related Stories<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"John\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Outpost\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Get\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Jim Hosking double-header you never knew you needed\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

This article appears in Oct. 29\u2013Nov. 4, 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John 5 Credit: Jen Rosenstein \u201cI wouldn\u2019t wanna do anything else on Halloween but perform.\u201d When guitarist John…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[7771,18822,139,3359,141,140,18823],"class_list":["post-24672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-house-of-blues","tag-john-5","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-concerts","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-richie-kotzen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}