JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford has weighed in on GOJIRA‘s efficiency at this 12 months’s Olympic Video games opening ceremony.
GOJIRA carried out a shock rendition of “Ah! Ça Ira”, a well-liked music in the course of the French Revolution, alongside opera singer Marina Viotti in addition to a variety of beheaded figures representing the slain Queen Marie Antoinette.
Halford advised Heavy Consequence about GOJIRA‘s look (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I used to be stunned and shocked and thrilled and delighted to see metallic on the Olympics, as a result of I am an Olympics fan, like most individuals, as a result of it is teamwork. All of those athletes get there by their very own talent and endurance and perseverance, however there is a crew round them. And any winner will say, ‘Yeah, if it wasn’t for my coach, if it wasn’t for my household, da, da, da, da, da.’ So, what I imply by that’s, the GOJIRA band is a household, it is a metallic household, it is a metallic neighborhood. So, wow, that was simply such a thrill. And shoutout to the French for doing one thing like this. Some international locations can be a bit of bit hesitant, however that is the fantastic thing about France. They’re such a cosmopolitan place for all arts. It isn’t, like, ‘Oh, you’ll be able to’t put metallic within the Olympics.’ ‘You say that. It is GOJIRA.’ It is nice. And so they deserve it.”
Rob added: “I might been rooting for GOJIRA. I like that band. I have been a GOJIRA fan since day one. So, sure, once more, a giant thrill for that band. And I hope to stumble upon the blokes on the [2025] Grammy Awards [where GOJIRA and PRIEST are both nominated], on the purple carpet or no matter.”
GOJIRA made historical past as the primary metallic band to ever carry out on the Olympic Video games in the course of the opening ceremony of the 2024 summer time Olympics in Paris, France on July 26. Working alongside composer Victor Le Manse, the quartet injected their signature heavy riffs and punishing rhythms into “Ah! Ça Ira!” . Joined by French-Swiss mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti and almost 300 classical musicians, GOJIRA carried out from the home windows of Paris’s iconic Concierge amidst a grand spectacle of pyrotechnics. The efficiency made worldwide headlines and was extensively thought to be one of the vital talked about moments from the 2024 Summer time Olympics.
Talking solely to Rolling Stone following the efficiency, GOJIRA frontman Joseph Duplantier commented: “We took it as a chance to characterize the metallic scene. So it was our process to actually go for it and lay it down, not simply be there and play a couple of notes to shock folks. We determined to go full-on with double-kick drums, screaming, growling, epic moments, and a tempo breakdown on the finish; we actually needed to indicate what metallic is all about.”
Requested by Heavy Consequence what it was prefer to be the primary heavy metallic band to ever carry out on the Olympics, GOJIRA drummer Mario Duplantier mentioned: “It is mind-blowing really. We’re nonetheless a bit excessive, I really feel, within the band. We’re nonetheless attempting to know what actually occurred by way of the influence of the ceremony and the influence on the planet of metallic.
“We felt like the celebs had been aligned as a result of we’re a French band, the ceremony was in France and two of the 4 guys who had been the creators of this ceremony had been large GOJIRA followers and so they referred to as us,” Mario defined. “So, we additionally felt very fortunate.
“There’s not that many bands in France. Think about when you’ve got a ceremony in England, for example, there’s hundreds of legendary bands. However in France, it is not likely the case. You have got loads of bands who play outdoors of France, however the listing just isn’t that large. So, there [was] likelihood for us to be referred to as. So we nonetheless really feel very humble. It was such an excellent second and an enormous increase for our profession.”
Requested how lengthy it was from the second that it was talked about to him and his GOJIRA bandmates that they’d carry out on the Olympics till the precise efficiency, Mario mentioned: “We obtained the decision again in November 2023, and the ceremony was in July 2024. So, couple of months. We needed to maintain it secret. We labored with the author of the music of the ceremony, as a result of we weren’t allowed to play our music. So at first we had been, like, ‘That is bizarre,’ as a result of we actually thought if we may play a music, that will be wonderful. However in truth, we actually needed to create one thing that match with the theme of the revolution. So it was a giant problem, however a really enjoyable problem as nicely. And we labored along with Victor Le Manse, with the man who writes your complete music of your complete ceremony. And, yeah, the relation was good — very chill. No drama, no pressure, nothing. And Joe [GOJIRA frontman Joseph Duplantier] and I, as a result of primarily we labored — Joe and I — on this undertaking, we had loads of issues to say and we had been very free to do nearly no matter we needed, as [long] because it match with the theme and all that. So yeah, wonderful.”
Concerning how his life has modified within the a number of months since performing on the Olympics, Mario mentioned: “It is actually refined. As a result of we have been a band for 30 years and we already had a profession and we had been touring worldwide. However, yeah, it is a plus, it is a bonus. You go to a retailer and a few persons are, like, ‘I noticed you on the Olympics.’ However it’s not like a loopy change. Additionally, it is a band that performed; it isn’t like one particular person. We’re a band and an entity, so it isn’t like certainly one of us was the principle man with a reputation. It is actually GOJIRA performing over there, however many individuals do not realize I am enjoying in GOJIRA, as a band additionally. However, no, what we are able to inform it is the general respect for the band now, since we did that. And, as I mentioned, we, we had been very fortunate to have the ability to do it and having this fucking bonus.”
GOJIRA‘s fiery look on the Olympics angered some Christians on-line, who shortly branded it “satanic”. Even the controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate accused the West of “worshipping the satan”.
Posting a clip of GOJIRA‘s efficiency, Tate wrote: “Satanists management the west and so they present you that they worship the satan. It isn’t a conspiracy principle. They actually present you. Are you blind?”
Requested by Rolling Stone about Tate‘s criticism that GOJIRA‘s efficiency was “satanic”, Joseph mentioned: “It is none of that. It is French historical past. It is French attraction, you realize, beheaded folks, purple wine, and blood far and wide — it is romantic, it is regular. There’s nothing satanic. [Laughs]
“France is a rustic that made a separation between the state and faith in the course of the revolution. And it is one thing essential, very expensive to the muse of republican France. We name it laïcité. It is when the state just isn’t non secular anymore, so due to this fact it is free by way of expression and symbolism. It is all about historical past and info. We do not look too shut intently at symbolism by way of faith.”
Concerning whether or not he and his GOJIRA bandmates thought a lot in regards to the duty of representing metallic on the world stage, Joseph mentioned: “I attempt to not suppose an excessive amount of about that as a result of it continues to blow my thoughts. [Laughs] The Olympic Committee may have requested actually anyone to play. I am pondering of bands like METALLICA or AC/DC which might be family names and powerhouses in our style that all of us revere and are our heroes. We by no means thought-about ourselves the largest band on the planet that will be worthy to play the Olympics or something like that. It is so bizarre.
“The way in which I give it some thought is it is a problem in 2024 to present hope to folks, to indicate one thing authentic. Folks have seen every little thing from touchdown on the moon to A.I. So it was a problem for Paris and the Committee to specific one thing contemporary, new, and authentic [by booking us] and in addition present what France is all about.
“At the least for our half, the truth that metallic and opera had by no means been seen collectively on TV and in entrance of so many individuals earlier than is an announcement for the nation of France. It is saying, ‘Hey, look. We’re nonetheless pushing the boundaries on the planet.’ So congrats to France for placing this collectively.”
Concerning who picked the music “Ah! Ça Ira” for GOJIRA, Joseph mentioned: “That wasn’t us in any respect. That was the crew of younger folks and composers and designers that determined the entire theme. We had been at nighttime when it got here to the entire ceremony; we had been simply concentrating on that image and that second of Marie Antoinette. We did not know the way it was going to look or the way it would slot in with a complete efficiency. I did not know Woman Gaga or Celine Dion had been going to be there. We had been in [the Olympic Committee’s] confidence, and we weren’t allowed to inform our folks that we had been going to do that. We did not know what was going to occur in any respect. We simply went forwards and backwards with the composer of the Olympic ceremony, Victor Le Manse. He threw us a tempo and a tenet. After which we did our factor.”
GOJIRA is taken into account a standard-bearer for French rock and bringing French rock to a global viewers. Steel Hammer declared GOJIRA “metallic’s most essential band” in 2016.
GOJIRA has been nominated for a Grammy Award 4 instances — twice in 2017, for “Finest Steel Efficiency” and “Finest Rock Album” (“Magma”),as soon as in 2022 for “Finest Steel Efficiency” and as soon as in 2025 for “Finest Steel Efficiency” for “Ah! Ça Ira”.