"America possesses no soul, so technically, killing this country would not be a crime." "I think the message that Laibach can bring to America is that there is a difference between pride in nationality and prejudice, and there's a difference between preparing and outright paranoia." "I think that's something that in America," "Americans are getting very confused between the difference right now." "And it's very scary over here." "We're very afraid of what may happen next." "During the past three years, We have recognised that if We rely on luck We will be defeated." "Instead, by developing a strategy of a forward-deployed, active layered defence, supported by the very best technology that We can commit to that mission," "We can be proactive in identifying the enemy threat," "Whether that threat exists in Afghanistan or off the coast of the United States or Within our own cities." "Lincoln was right: our cause is new." "And let me assure you, in the aftermath of September 11th," "We are thinking and acting anew." "Thank you." "Yeah, I was at the Laibach show last night." "I had never gone to see them and I'd always felt that they were somewhat too sinister for my taste." "But I couldn't resist." "The beat was totally infectious." "It's not the sort of thing I normally go for, because I don't really like that kind of four-on-the-floor heavy-hittin' thing." "But then again, I couldn't really help myself, and as I was watching, I began to have a sense like my body couldn't help but move." "And this for me is remarkable, because I'm reserved, normally, and it's hard to get me to dance." "But it was easy last night to just, you know, start moving." "And as I just let myself be swept up in the music, in the show, in the brutal theatricality of it," "I realised that what was happening was that a kind of pressure was being applied to..." "Oh, a car." "We'd better move." "...a kind of psychic pressure, I felt, was being applied to me, that, on the face of it," "would seem rather sinister, but then, at the same time, the effect it was having was incredibly benevolent." "It was a certain kind of oppression that was liberating." "And beyond that, I think I just get a little stupid, because I was transformed, it was a transcendent moment for me." "I thoroughly enjoyed myself." "It pretty much encapsulates exactly how I feel about American culture right now." "The fact that it's embarrassing to be an American right now, you know, in our day and times, and the fact that they are coming out and saying exactly how I feel about America, even though I am an American, it's still one of those things that... it's good to hear from other people exactly how I feel." "Even though they're from another country, it's exactly what I feel about America right now." "The Americans are total sheep, they have the wool pulled over their eyes." "And they're pretty much facing their own death as we speak." "Well, you know, it's funny, I had a really... argumentative discussion with another American this morning." "This guy, I just couldn't agree with him." "You know, he was so conservative, so for Bush." "I'm against Bush." "I mean, there was no common ground that we could think about." "Yet he paid the fare, we didn't shoot each other or start a fight," " but we just didn't..." " Different values?" "Well, yeah, there's conservatism in the United States." "You're from Slovenia, so you're sort of a neutral as to Iraq." "OK, but, I mean, there's a lot of people in the United States..." "Bush only won 51% to 49%." "That's a very small, small amount." "And now he thinks he can go and..." "He has committed the United States to staying in Iraq." "To me, that's the stupidest thing in the world." "I mean, what right do we have to go into another country like that?" "I don't know, you know, it's really dark times because there's, even right now, issues that there were fake votes in the contested states." "And so this is almost a fascism, what's going on right now, in a very American guise." "Rooting for moral things which Laibach might touch on, but I think that's one of the strongest things, that they use moral and emotional issues to divide a country, as opposed to things that are logical and reasonable." "Well, it's related to what he was talking about before, because the promotion for this tour features this old-Europe fascist imagery, or pseudo-Communist imagery." "Behind it is the American Flag." "I was thinking if you were commenting on the political developments" " in the US right now..." " What is it, the fascist imagery?" "Well, it's sort of typical imagery with the uniformed character, with a band." "Whose uniform is that?" "Well, it's ambiguous and it's associated with..." " It's an American uniform." " Oh, it is?" "OK." "It's a difficult place to be after the election." "Cleveland tried very hard to get Kerry elected and people worked very hard and got a record number of voters out in Cleveland." "We had over 200,000 votes for Kerry in Cuyahoga County, which is where Cleveland is." "However, it wasn't enough to counter what the Bush people did in the south, in the southern part of our state." "So it was very disappointing to everybody to have Ohio be the state that lost the election to George Bush." "So everybody is mourning and doesn't know what to do next." "This is all very sudden, because it happened only a few days... a week and a half ago." "You know, there may be..." "One of my friends said obviously people need to learn a stronger lesson, and that maybe four more years of George Bush will turn something around." "We obviously get it." "A lot of people in Cleveland get it." "But there's a lot of America that doesn't get it, and... believes that George Bush is a tough guy and America needs to be a tough country." "It's the 21 st century and Jesus Christ is a superstar." "Particularly, the American election really shows the role of Jesus." "I noticed that Laibach and NSK, Neue Slowenische Kunst, promote Christianity." "And... why?" "When we first met we would fuck to Laibach for six months in a row." "And I wasjust, like, basically, like..." "This sounds drunk and stupid..." "Seriously, no, talk to me off-camera." "Laibach really knows how to create an atmosphere." "I like it a lot." "It was an orgasm waiting to happen and it finally happened and it was beautiful." "Anyway, so, it was amazing." "When we first put it on, I had nothing." "I'm, like, you know, into the Spice Girls." "I'm this little girl from Nebraska." "And I heard Laibach for the first time, the drums beating and the lead singer singing..." "Basically..." "I don't know how to explain it." "It's like McDonald's." "For every person I've turned on, another person turned it on." "So that's why it all spreads." "Ten billion users." "Laibach." "No, everybody likes Laibach, it's scary." "Hello." "I speak Slovene a little." "But I speak German." "I like Laibach very much." "I like Laibach from 1998." "I like Milan Fras very much." "He is wonderful." "I like the music very much." "I am from Chicago, but I like foreign languages a lot." "Hello, Milan." " It was fucking amazing." " It was like a religious experience." "It was like a religious experience!" "I'm sorry, I'm taking all my words from him." "But they're one of my favourite bands in the world, and I'm so happy to see them again." "And it's exhilarating and breathtaking and I don't know what other words to use to describe it." " Minneapolis." " We came from Minneapolis." "The tour was cancelled in Minneapolis." "We had to travel all the way down here." "No, it was just amazing, because it was a band I thought I would never see in the US." "And I got to see them." "I was just shocked when I saw it in the paper, I was like, "Am I ha||ucinating?"" ""Laibach is coming to Cleveland?"" "My name is Frederic, I just came from the concert." "I know the band from five years ago." "From the CDs Macbeth or..." "The John Peel Sessions." "I just came out from the concert, it was really, really good." "It was the best show this year." "It was big." "It was art." "It was fine." "Highly recommended for people who are interested in design." "Highly recommended for people who are interested in social issues." "Highly recommended for people who are interested in America." "I've seen Laibach before, they're a wonderful psychedelic band." "They're very similar to..." "I guess they're kind of like..." "Well, what would Laibach be like?" "This is taking an aesthetic that has to do with classical art and putting it into the rock'n'ro|| form." "Like, "overkill rock" form, the "rock spectacle" form." "Unbelievable!" "Anyway, beyond my expectations, and the expectations were high." "I didn't know what to expect, I've never seen them live before." "But I really was impressed with the entire composition and production." "And the marriage between the statements and the music and the lighting and the projection." "And the choreography." "I liked the girls." "I brought these girls to Laibach tonight for their very first concert ever, and they had the greatest time." "I've been a Laibach fan for 17 years and I've never seen them live, so it was really an honour to see them tonight." "I've collected all of their videos and all of their albums." "I don't know if I'm the typical Laibach fan, but I'm a big Laibach fan." "I am the greatest Laibach fan." "I know that their political orientation is perhaps different than mine." "Because I'm a National Socialist," "I am, I'm a fascist." "But they present things in a way that's very interesting." "It juxtaposes fascism... and modern economy." "It's very interesting for me and for a lot of my friends." "My name is the Partridge in the Pear Tree, the Maytag Man, the Hunchback of Casa Bonita, the Homosexual Scientist." "My name is Diabolos Rex, and I am a painter and a sculptor, and a representative for the Church of Satan." "Hi, I'm Tank with The Misfits." "I'm their tour manager." "Here in Toronto, we're playing down the street at a place called Reverb, but I heard these guys were in town, and I blew off my own band..." "After working for them for 10 years!" "...to come down and see Laibach." "My first show." "Ifirst became a fan in 1987 when Opus Dei came out, and I saw the Life is Life video on late-night television and thought "These guys are tremendous."" "Once WATcame out and I realised that they were talking about a lot of the same things I'm interested in:" "conspiracy theories, illuminati," "Freemason, who-runs-the-world kind of stuff, it just re-ignited everything for me again." "This was my first show, it blew me away." "When those guys busted into Tanz MitLaibach," "I lost my mind!" "I don't normally do that, because I'm in the profession, so I'm usually a little more low-key, but this was amazing and this is definitely the band to see." "I can't say anything else." "Thank you." "I'm in there and I did see police officers, and that was interesting." "I'm not sure what they're there for." "Again yesterday, last night, there was a white supremacist doing signs, so I thought that was part of it." "I'm not surprised, being in this country, if someone says something, or whatever," "they're gonna be carefully watched, so I can see how a band like Laibach will not be in the South, like where I'm at right now, like Florida." "It's very Christian." "Sometimes backwards." "You go around and you'll see Bush stickers and supporters." "I don't even like saying who I voted for cos I don't want to be uncomfortable around people who... in that climate." "You're here at Double Door?" "Gonna get right by the stage." " Who did you want to see?" " Laibach." "That's tempting." " Do you live here or are you visiting?" " Visiting." "I gotta be back in Michigan by Monday." "Well, the show will end early." "They're on from 11 till 12.15 and then how far do you have to go on to Michigan?" "Well, I have to take a train." "Can I give a message to Europe?" "Help us!" "Free us from our democracy!" "From our..." "Free us from our dictatorship, please!" "Unlike four years ago where, arguably, the election in the US was stolen, this time, I think it was very clear, and it's very scary that over 50% of the people of the United States" "want a polarizing president, someone who makes no effort to reach out, but only goes forward with his ideas, and has a very black and white view." "It's kind of a scary time." "There's parallels with other times in other countries, that hopefully won't play out more than this." "I don't feel this election was stolen, I feel the American people have spoken, and now I feel sort of alien in my own country." " So I'm looking to emigrate." " You have a passport." "Yeah, I have a passport." "It's just a matter of time." "The problem is no matter where you go in the world," "US politics and US policies will affect you." "So I don't know if it's better to stay here, and try to change things from the inside." "We don't get another chance for four years." "We had our chance, and somehow it didn't work out." "President Bush was appealing to people on such a base, emotional level, and his opponent, Kerry, was trying to appeal to people on an intellectual level, and clearly it's all about people's fears and people's greed," "so that's why we have Bush for four more years." "No, I'm from Texas." "I'm from the South." "I know this guy." " Did you enjoy the show?" " Very much so." "Man, yeah." "It was a very good show." "They sing a lot about what's coming down in America right now." "And I think it was very good that they came at the time that they did." "It's a divided nation here in America." "Maybe that's the answer or maybe this is the future outcome, as Laibach have said they are time now, which is pretty interesting." "What would be a definition of "freedom"?" "It was a pretty symbolic thing in America, because the states that went for Bush were red and so it was like watching this big bloody haemorrhage happen on America and just like spread and divide these little islands of blue." "You couldn't ask for anything better than that." "They had national TV painting these things red live." "It was very theatrical and pageantry." "And it's kind of "What's going on here anymore?"" "If it was easy to go back to Germany, I think we would have." "It pretty much sucks." "I was very disappointed," "I had a small glimmer of hope that Bush might be out." "I guess living in Portland gave me hope because people here didn't vote for him." "It's pretty dismal and fucked up." "Entirely fucked up." "I think they raise a lot of good inspiration for Americans." "With all the political shit going down right now," "I think they're pooling some good inspiration to really keep up and really keep motivated to actually do something." "Snoop Dogg for President!" "We're the Snoop Dogg Campaign." "Everyone who votes on the 23rd gets a free blunt, free blunt papers and a Snoop Dogg CD." "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm DeMarcus Gillespie with the Snoop Dogg Campaign and I want you to vote." "Do you see the seriousness in my eyes or the redness in my eyes?" "Because I'm voting for Snoop Dogg." "He fucking rules." "And we're out!" " Snoop Dogg!" "All right!" " We're on TV!" "In the song from WA T, Now You Will Pay, there's a chant:" ""Barbarians are coming."" "One could listen to it and think that's a reference to Arabic peoples from the Mideast or terrorism." "Would you agree that Barbarians are also coming from Texas and the West?" "I think Laibach's message to America is to look a little nicer, a little sharper and to appreciate fun." "There's something very European about it, that is maybe a little alien to Americans, but you've seen how the audiences have been reacting to it." "I wish you could stay here, and if you can't, it would be nice to have an American Laibach at this particular moment." "It really comes down to..." "I don't think that Americans understand a lot of foreign countries, and a lot of foreign countries don't understand America." "There's an American quality that the population responds to." "You know, the big cowboy." "America wants their leaders to be really strong." "It doesn't matter if you're dumb sometimes." "If you appear strong, that's all they care about." "American's don't read enough, that's the whole thing." "OK, Cheers!" "Such a sweet man." "This is a song that I'm going to dedicate to my friends in Laibach." "And thank them so much for inviting me to do this very historical North American tour." "Americans are comfortable, right?" "Most Americans, even if you're feeling poor, you can buy a car, you can buy a TV, and you like that." "You don't want that being disrupted by terrorists." "And this is a big thing in the United States." "They want a leader who will fight the terrorists." "Well, that's great." "But they're just doing it the wrong way." "They're creating more terrorism." "It's gonna bear out that way, I think." "The United States is going to leave Iraq just like they did Vietnam:" "without accomplishing anything." "Except making a lot of enemies." "Are We on the brink of a global confrontation that cannot be stopped?" "Sunday..." "A shocking inside look at What the World really thinks of America." "Don't miss this special Breaking Point investigation:" "Hating America." "Welcome back." "I bought the "Divided We Stand" T-shirt." "Ithink it was a great logo and I loved the way you used the two-headed eagle, our national emblem, creating that Eastern European version of it." "And the "Divided States of America" is a brilliant statement." "It's so very true." "It's one thing we've been talking about a lot the last week or two, how there are two Americas." "And Seattle is a lot different than Utah." "Laibach's message is so welcome right now." "And come back, all of you, in the next few months again." "I think we need your message." "More and more people need to see it." "We need to get your DVD on television, and people need to hear your message." "I think there's a big audience for it here." "We'll do our best here in Cleveland to try to spread the word." "I saw you, when, 15 years ago, first, when you came to Cleveland, and then nine years ago again." "It's a brilliant concept you have and way of presenting it, and I applaud you." "OK, maybe I'm stretching it, but Laibach and Alamut are very, very similar, because it's a negation of power and at the same time, they use power to express their work, to express this negation of power." "It's incredible." "And I didn't understand the connection between Alamut, the connection between some of these films, and the connection between Laibach until I experienced Laibach." "Not on CD, not on DVD, but alive." "I can feel that power and hear them talk about the negation of that power at the same time, it's extraordinary." "It's a difficult moment." "And Laibach's message to me, when I listen to the words, is not to react," "it's to think about what's happening." "And I feel that this last album is..." "Everybody has a reaction to what has just been happening in recent years." "And I feel Laibach chooses not to react." "They choose to send the information back out and say," ""Think about what is happening and why this is happening."" ""And what the hell are we going to do to make a change for the better?"" "You have to listen to understand." "And if you take a moment to listen, you will understand." "For me, I understand." "And I understand Laibach music, so it's a great moment for me." "I want to thank everybody in the band for making this." "15 years that I've waited to see you." "One of the greatest nights of my life." "So thank you." "I had a very fun time tonight!" "And I do agree that this was a very glamorous evening." " The girls were hot!" " The girls were very hot." "It was a very good addition." "I almost cried at one point." "The bass was thumping through my heartbeats." "I thought I was going to have a coronary heart..." "You know, a heart attack." "I can't talk that well!" "Winners and Defeaters." "We don't like morality and We sure don't Want to preach about it, but your country, obsessed by moral values, is now forcing us to do so." "Let's say this very loud and clear:" "the higher the buildings, the lower the morals." "Moral values in America today are nothing, pure nothing." "Behind the faith in God, evil is hiding." "Lots of evil and sin against humanity." "Freedom, democracy, family, life protection, and security for your own nation are based on violence, revenge and hatred for all who set up an obstacle to the overrated theory and practice of the American Wa y." "Lust for power, greed and arrogance is killing this nation and its soul," "if there is still any left." "The game you play:" "lying, stealing, sowing death, to protect your concept of morality and life against the life of others is not the right Wa y." "Heedless self-interest for countries like America was always had morals, but it's bad economics as Well." "There are no Winners in this game, no victory in it for you or anybody else." "In fact, it's a suicide your nation is doing to itself." "Although by the number of ammunition and guns, bombs and bullets," "America might still be a leading force and a global superpower, you appear to us, who had a chance to see you from up close and personal, as a Third World country, a clumsy giant ﬁlled with fear and prejudices," "a giant child, abused by his parents, a large flock of sheep on the open range Without a ranger," "Without a shepherd and a leader." "Your president is the opposite to Christ and his victory is based on moral values." "Christian moral values." "I tell you this: the Worst government is always the most moral one." "But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression." "Morality which is based on ideal is an unmitigated evil." "And don't forget, your president represents the majority of your nation." "This time it is true, it's not even a lie." "Well, my dear ones, it is also true that Americans in general are not too intelligent." "For that reason We can partly forgive you and overlook some of your sins." "But this will not help stopping the decay;" "the historical primate of America is approaching its end and this is an historical fact." "Like every empire, the USA is falling apart." "E unum, pluribus.' "from one many"." "United you fall, divided you'll stand." "The Divided States of America are being made and the civil War is being foretold." "I've lived in this country for 58 years." "I was here when Europeans arrived, and I'm happy to say that, so far, I've been able to look at distinctions to be made between what folks where I'm from consider "free-dom"," "and what is the national norm or ideas about freedom, ideas about liberty." "I've never been free," "I don't know this idea in relationship to what the country says it means or should mean for me." "Well, it's a different situation, because now that I understand more about Laibach, particularly from watching the documentary just now," "I see that they, and yourself, seem to be coming, in my impression, you seem to be growing out of a certain kind of cultural oppression that is foreign to me as an American." "I won't say that I don't understand it, but I haven't lived under similar circumstances that make that particularly relevant in the same way." "I think maybe now, given the political situation here among the majority of Americans, we're starting to get a sense of a similar kind of pressure." "Although, it seems to be more subtle, it's not so outright, you know." "It's not an outright, obvious form of control, but I think it's a more subtle kind of manipulation that is all-pervasive in American culture." "But for us..." "I'm just wildly speculating at this point." "...it's something that we've grown to expect and don't even know it's there." "And we live under a sense of freedom that we don't even particularly understand we're being manipulated." "I've worked a bit in advertising, so I have some sense of insight into the mechanism of manipulation, in terms of how you spend your money, where you go for your vacations, to try to influence how people think in that regard." "There's a relevance, but it's a different form of relevance between the European roots and the totalitarian state that you've lived under, and the sort of totalitarian state that we're coming to live in." "And that's expressed in some very obvious ways through our recent choice of president, but I think that onlyjust scratches the surface." "Ithink, maybe not within my lifetime, but something very serious is going to happen, perhaps like France in 1789." "I hope it doesn't come to that, but I could see it happening." "I hate to say that." "That's why I feel Laibach's message is very relevant." "The real life that's out there is not terribly pretty, but it's very definitely real." "I always thought of their music as politically incisive, alternative music for the thinking man." "I would not presume to interpret what Laibach really means, but that's what it means to me."