Gojira @Nantes Zenith, December the 2nd, 2025 – “The strength of fire is running through me”

Tekijä

Hanna Takalo ja Metalliluolan toimitus

11.12.2025

MAINOS:

As a frustrated teenager, Joe Duplantier picked up trash on a shore to throw it into a local mayor’s office’s parking lot. Instead of raising awareness through littering, today the singer and guitarist of the French metal beast, Gojira, headlines big festivals and tours in arenas around the world. Gojira likes to poke us about topics that are painfully relevant: genocide, global warming, mass extinction, and deforestation, among other things. On the other hand, their message is not only gloomy and depressing, but they also make music about what it is to be a human, finding yourself spiritually, and standing tall and strong in the madness of modern life.

Their combination of musical wizardry and important messages has borne fruit, the most famous example of performing in the opening of the Paris Olympics in 2024 as the first metal band ever in the event. Despite France not being traditionally a metal country, Gojira has proved that with talent and a vision, you can make it work—and make it big, as the sold-out tour in France clearly shows.

Gojira’s progressive and heavy sound is not the easiest piece to bite into. I must admit that I wasn’t straight away sold to them when I first heard one of their most famous mammoths of a song, Flying Whales. But with time, their aggressive vocals, polyrhythmics, and creativity enchanted me, so the only option was to purchase a ticket to one of their French shows and see it myself if they had live charm as well. After almost one and a half years of waiting, it was time to head to Nantes in December 2025 with my French friend and two fellow Finns.

Zenith Nantes, one of the 17 similar arena settings in France, accommodates 8,500 concert-goers (standing and seated) and has hosted big artists, such as Sting, Muse, and Placebo. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the organization of such a big event, but as the gates opened, everything went smoothly from start to finish. Inside, there was still time to grab some merch from the extensive booth, have a drink or two, and visit the restroom, and still get back to your place without pushing or drama. A fun fact for the Finnish concert-goers: the cloakrooms seem not to be mandatory in European venues, and that was the case in Zenith Nantes as well. The audience consisted not only of typical metal heads, but people of many ages and styles. Even families had attended with their kids.

Three different acts opened the night, the first one being a Danish death/groove metal group, Neckbreakker. The young players were fun to watch—I was rocketed back to my teenage years, to hazy band nights in our local youth center, from which I have fond memories. Their set was surprisingly short, only 30 minutes. The next act was something you wouldn’t expect to see in a metal show: a local stand-up comedian whose name I—or even my French friend—couldn’t manage to grasp. In his glitter green tracksuit, the comedian performed jokes that only evoked a lukewarm response from the crowd. My French friend told me that we should be happy when we didn’t understand his jokes since the topics revolved around poo, sex, and death. After the questionable comedy, it was time for the third act, a Canadian nu-metal group, Comeback Kid. Truth be told, I don’t have much to say about them since I was eagerly waiting for the main act to start. I only remember that there were several crowd surfers and the songs sounded very similar to me.

It didn’t take long after the last warm-up for Gojira to start, around thirty minutes. When the lights went out, and a hypnotic tapping beat started, the audience roared, the energy growing in the packed arena. A crucial part of Gojira’s charm is not only their music, but the visual side as well, which was clearly seen straight from the beginning. Along with an animation of a developing human, each of the band members showed up: Christian Andreu on guitar, Jean-Michel Labadie on bass, and Joe’s little brother, Mario Duplantier, on drums. This time, they also had an additional guitarist Greg Kubacki from the math metal group Car Bomb.

The opening track, Only Pain, made the crowd go nuts straight away, and from then on, it was two hours of head banging, mosh pits, and horn signs. Gojira is hard and loud on record, and the concert proved they are even harder and louder live. The setlist was a solid trip to most of their albums, including their biggest hits like Stranded, Silvera, and of course, Mea Culpa, which made the French audience go wild as if it was the French Revolution again, with bloody confetti and all. We also got visually interesting stuff, such as a whale swimming in the ceiling at the start of Flying Whales.

As already briefly mentioned, Gojira had hired Greg Kubacki as a substitute guitarist for this concert and tour. This was because Joe had to undergo surgery on his hand and thus couldn’t play the guitar. For me, this was not disappointing at all since Greg absolutely nailed it—as Joe told in one of the many speeches that he was able to learn all of their songs in five minutes—and Joe could then focus more on the vocals. In this way, he wasn’t able to hide behind his guitar and performed and interacted with the audience more. Even though Joe has stated in some interviews that he doesn’t consider himself solely a vocalist, when forced to perform without his guitar, his unique stage charisma shines. Also, this incident gave us an opportunity to hear two technically difficult songs that otherwise haven’t been played ever: Born in Winter and Global Warming. Despite minor technical issues—such as microphone malfunctioning—Joe did well as a sole vocalist. Since he has grown attached to his guitar, he had to play a bit in The Axe, Flying Whales, and Amazonia, even with a hand support. True dedication to art there.

Despite the ostensible seriousness, Gojira proved they have a sense of humor as well. As an interim number, the lights were turned off, and when they turned back on, Mario was sneaking on the stage, with Mona Lisa, ladders, and jewellery. This act elicited more laughter in the crowd than the earlier stand-up comedy. After his not-so-successful theft, Mario asked if we wanted to hear double pedal five minutes straight: and obviously, we were hungry for more. In general, the band seemed to have a great time, smiling and interacting with the audience. Compared to the Finnish audiences, the one in Nantes was wilder and definitely louder. No incidents occurred, though, and the several crowd surfers were safely returned to the shore by the security guards.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and the eerie lyrics of Global Warming reverberated in the arena:

I never fell and always believed in

We could evolve and get older

Open thy eyes and let all this flow in

Now see a new hope is growing inside

We will see our children growing

The band had left us thinking about how we could get better and if we would ever learn from our mistakes. But despite the music being over, the show wasn’t, and there still was time for the band to throw picks, drumsticks, and even shoot t-shirts to the audience. As a dedicated surfer, Mario even had a Gojira surfboard and surfed in the audience for a while before the band exited the stage. Unfortunately, an incident occurred before the surfing: the band didn’t realize the lights in the front weren’t attached, and they fell off with a bang. When you’re rocking, anything can happen.

As I exited the concert with a smile on my face, I also had wistfulness bubbling inside me: When will I see them the next time? This concert gave me a lot of memories to treasure, and I’m hungry for more. How about Nokia Areena in the next tour?

Viva la Gojira, until next time!