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GYBE: Meeting The Black Emperor

The Black Emperor is a cruel regent.
12 april 2002, Effenaar, Eindhoven (NL)

Tekst: Bas Ickenroth

Publicatiedatum: 19 april 2002

It was time. The Black Emperor was touring his entire empire, and on April 12 he came so close to me that the call for a meeting was much too loud to withstand. Let me first of all tell you that despite my voluntary decision to go, meetings with the Black Emperor are never easy. He often is rude and relentless in his judgments, and you'd better hide yourself if your attitude isn't to his liking.

Armed with this knowledge I went anyway, fully aware of the fact that things could go very wrong. It became a difficult night. From his side, as well as mine. It was clear from the start the Black Emperor was ready for a war, and that he didn't care less for one or more victims. "Godspeed!" he yelled at us in his announcements, and that was something many of us would need that night. Not that it would help. Once started the Black Emperor couldn't possibly be stopped. There were only two choices: Go with the flow, or leave and risk exile. Nobody dared to choose the last option. Total surrender is what he demanded of us, and boy, were we willing to give him just that. The strategy went like this: Captivate the people with soft melodic passages, hypnotise them with long fields of feedback, and make it complete by pouring endless crescendos down over the crowds. A proven concept that always works. Despite the softer parts that implied a certain amount of compassion, they were only a decoy. Without compromises the Back Emperor decided to make an end to all the doubts about his policies. The last couple of months people tended to criticise his policies as being too populist and too easy for the big masses. Nothing could be less true during my meeting with him. Old decisions were again declared with a passion and intensity that other emperors can only dream about. Even more intense were his new decisions. The Black Emperor hadn't opted for again walking the same paths that made him popular in the first place, but onward, in his own known way, seeking new territories. And directly taking over the complete area surrounding that territory, relentless of the values that are normal for that area. The intensity of his speech stayed at the same tremendously high level for the full two hours and twenty minutes.

And there was nothing that I could do about it. I was completely powerless against his cruel demands. The long roller coaster ride with the Black Emperor took me over great heights and through deep lows; endlessly stretched scenery and massive grey concrete; depression and hope; all soon completely crushed by the realisation that after this emperor only lesser gods would stand. Total surrender is what he demanded, and I wasn't able to give him anything else but that. From the first minute on, I was sucked empty by the the Black Emperor himself, only to come to life again after the meeting . . . A loyal follower, until I die.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/live/godspeed-you-black-emperor/gybe-meeting-the-black-emperor/1481/
Meer Godspeed You! Black Emperor op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/godspeed-you-black-emperor