French metal band Gojira’s explosive performance at the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony has sparked a mix of awe and controversy. Critics have labeled the eye-popping set “satanic,” but lead singer Joe Duplantier finds such claims baffling.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Duplantier laughed off the accusations, saying, “It’s none of that. It’s French history. It’s French charm, you know, beheaded people, red wine, and blood all over the place — it’s romantic, it’s normal.” He explained that the performance, which featured double kick drums, growling vocals, pyrotechnics, and blood-like streamers, was a nod to France’s revolutionary past, not a nod to Satanism.
The spectacle, set against the historic Conciergerie palace, included the 19th-century French anthem “Ah! Ça Ira” and featured mezzo-soprano Marina Voitti sailing by on a ship. Duplantier described the experience as surreal, noting that the call from the Olympic committee felt like a long shot. “The amount of people that would see us live kind of eclipsed the moment. I wasn’t thinking about what it was going to be because it was just too mind-bending to think about,” he said.
Despite not selecting the song or knowing how they would fit into the ceremony, Duplantier and his band were determined to represent the metal scene authentically. They wanted to go all-in with the performance to “show what metal is all about.”
The performance also faced criticism from social media figures like Andrew Tate and Fox News pundits, who claimed it was inspired by the devil. Additionally, Donald Trump Jr. and House Speaker Mike Johnson decried the ceremony’s recreation of the “Last Supper” featuring drag queens as an insult to Christians.
Unfazed by the backlash, Duplantier emphasized the cultural significance and historical context of their performance. “France is a country that made a separation between the state and religion during the revolution,” he said, highlighting the importance of laïcité, or secularism, in French society.
Reflecting on the performance, Duplantier expressed pride in representing the metal community on such a grand stage, despite the unexpected and surreal nature of the experience.
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