Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Icelandic Opera House
Reykjavik, Iceland
March 13, 2002
Soundboard Recording
MP3 320kbps
Front Cover Only
01 Storm / Dead Metheny / Tazer Floyd 50:50
02 Tiny Silver Hammer / World Police And Friendly Fire 47:18
03 Moya 14:11
total time: 1hr 52mn 20sc
Efrim Menuck guitars, tape loops, keyboards
David Bryant guitars, tapes
Roger Tellier-Craig guitars
Thierry Amar contrebasse, bass
Mauro Pezzente bass
Aidan Girt drums, percussion
Bruce Cawdron drums, percussion
Sophie Trudeau violin
Norsola Johnson cello
Godspeed You! Black Emperor (formerly punctuated Godspeed You Black Emperor! and commonly abbreviated to GYBE! or GY!BE) is a Canadian Post-Rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The band took its name from God Speed You! Black Emperor, a 1976 Japanese black-and-white documentary by director Mitsuo Yanagimachi, which follows the exploits of a Japanese biker gang, The Black Emperors. The band uses film projections as an integral part of their live shows. They are also a taper friendly band allowing fans to tape & share shows.
Many Post-Metal bands cite Godspeed You! Black Emperor as a big influence on their sound. Such bands as Nuerosis, Agolloch, Wolves In The Throne Room, ISIS, Pelican, and Mogwai among others claim Godspeed You! Black Emperor as well as Dead Can Dance, were a bigger influence than any particular Metal band.
This is the band mentioned in Michael Moore's book Dude, Where's My Country? that was held on suspicion of terrorism while on tour in the USA. After stopping at a local gas station for fuel in the town of Ardmore, Oklahoma, during their 2003 tour of the United States. The station attendant working that day believed the group of Canadians to be terrorists. She quickly passed a note to another customer also getting fuel to call the police. When the local police appeared, the group was held until they could be questioned by the FBI. Although the police were suspicious of the band's anti-government documents and some photos they had (such as those of oil rigs), they found no incriminating evidence. After background checks were run, the ensemble was released from custody and continued on their way to their next show in Columbia, MO. Efrim Menuck later spoke to the crowd about what happened to them during their appearance in Missouri and speculated that their origin was a motive for being released quickly ("It's a good thing we're nice white kids from Canada"), hinting at racism in the police force.
