The opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics saw an unforgettable performance by French heavy metal band Gojira. Their set, featuring flames, double kick drums, and intense blast beats, was far from predictable, especially for a hard rock band making history as the first to perform at an Olympics opener.
With high expectations on their shoulders, Gojira faced immense pressure to represent both their country and their genre. Lead singer and guitarist Joe Duplantier, 47, shared with The New York Times that their rendition of “Ah! Ça Ira,” a song from the French Revolution, had to make a significant impact.
Duplantier described the French Revolution as a “very bloody era,” fitting for a metal performance. He and his bandmates were committed to showcasing the metal community on a global stage, and they had no intention of toning down their signature sound for the event.
“It was a very bloody era of French history, so it was very metal,” Duplantier said of what he thought was the “smart” idea to ask a heavy metal band play the revolutionary anthem. But more importantly, Duplantier said he and his bandmates were determined to represent “the whole metal community on the world stage.
The song’s going to be in your face,” he promised before the flame-throwing spectacle that opened with a brief performance of Les Miserables‘ “Do You Hear the People Sing?
Their performance, which followed a brief opening of Les Misérables’ “Do You Hear the People Sing?” by Théâtre du Chatelet, was a high-energy spectacle. It included opera singer Marina Viotti and a dramatic display with pyrotechnics and a surreal scene of Marie Antoinette figures holding their own decapitated heads.
As revealed by a recent Reddit thread on Gojira’s subreddit, Andrew Tate could be seen saying that Satanists control the West and openly show their devil worship. He insists it’s not a conspiracy theory and asks if people are ignoring the obvious signs.
Satanists control the west and they show you that they worship the devil. It’s not a conspiracy theory. They literally show you. Are you blind?
