Hello! do you have a minute to talk about His Eminence, Papa Emaritus IV?

For those of you not familiar, Papa Emeritus is the is the vocalist for the band Ghost which has been an obsession of mine since 2013, when they released the If You Have Ghost EP. But it was their third album Meliora that really got me, specially the track He Is. This track is directly responsible for the inspiration of one of my drawings of the same name.

Last year I got the chance to get VIP tickets which included a meet and greet with Papa Emeritus. I thought about it long and hard for about 3 seconds before deciding to get them. For four months I tried not to think or talk about it, I didn’t want to get to excited because I was afraid something would happen and I had to cancel the trip.

The moment the tickets where secure I had a plan, I was going to give Papa a print of the drawing. I said to myself ”you’re not going to geek out this time, you got this Gambit”. In case you’re wondering, the reason why I had to give myself this pep talk is because I get anxious when I meet someone I admire and usually embarrassed myself or say something dumb. So for the next 4 months I rehearsed in my head what I was going to say to him (yeah, so much for not think much about it). I also made a plan B in case I didn’t get the chance.

Finally the time came, it was a week before the concert. Still didn’t want to get to excited, anything could cancel this trip. I was going to get tested at the venue. Until that covid test was negative it wasn’t a sure thing so imagine how stressed I was until then. We had some scares that week leading to the event, but we made it to Denver, CO.

The day of the concert is here!

We planned every single detail for the day of the event. At what time we have lunch, the time to get ready. how long will it take to get there, what where we wearing. We had to look good, we were meeting Papa Emeritus! Finally I was getting excited! we started getting ready on time, after hitting a dispensary and having leftover pizza. We called our ride and make it to the venue! yes! Excitement is starting to show, but something was off. Where are the metalheads? Where are the fans? I mean, it’s like 19° so I get it, but something is not right.

We made it to the venue a day earlier by mistake, yes a full 24hrs earlier. Why and how we missed that detail is beyond me, but we did had fun getting ready. At the moment I was so mad, so frustrated. There we were, in the snow, cold as fuck! So we laughed about it and I made a page for This Is Us. We talked about this all week. I blame the edibles, CO has good dispensaries. More on that Later, I promise.

The Day of the concert is here… again.

Basically the same day as before, but for real this time. We looked fabulous. Here we are at the venue, past security. We got tested and waited the longest 15 minutes ever for results. Then we got our badges, we were finally going in! now excitement is here!

I bought some shirts at the merch booth and head to my seat to wait. In the meantime I got enjoy the opening act my most recent obsession, Twin Temple. If you like 50’s and 60’s Rock n’ Roll and Satan you will love them.

It is time, so we head out to the meet and greet area. I got to see the relics up close and compose myself before the picture with Papa.

This is it, the moment I was waiting for.

This is it! the moment I’ve been waiting for! There’s no one in front of me, I have the print in my hand… the lady in the staff was super nice and asked ”is that for him?” I knew what was coming next, so I said ”yes”. I couldn’t give him the print in person, but that is ok I was prepared for that. Finally I’m in and he says “hello” in a very enthusiastic way. Because of social distancing rules I couldn’t shake his hand, he was very much attentive and present. He thanked me for coming and I told him I brought a gift for him and that I hope he likes it. He was graceful and elegant and everything I was expecting. I didn’t say everything I wanted to say, but I didn’t freak out like always do. So I’ll take that win.

As I walk out he says ”enjoy the show tonight” and I did just that. I enjoyed that show like it was the last time I was going to be at a concert.

Stay tuned for the second part of this adventure, with more pictures and videos!