Loud: Gojira live at Black Box, Helsinki
The summer night on July 19 was quite special in Helsinki. Spectacular Gojira arrived in the capital with their concert, where their latest album “Fortitude”, released last year, was presented.
The Black Box venue already had a few hundred people waiting outside before the doors opened, showing the enthusiasm the French band has received around the world in recent years.
This current tour has two opening acts. The first was a British band called Employed to serve, playing a good dose of metalcore with hardcore riffs. The stage was already down for the night’s other acts, but singer Justine Jones was having a good time.
A trio from New Zealand Alien Weaponry there were already fans in the audience. Playing a refreshing mix of groove metal with some songs written in Maori, the band put on a beautiful show and caused the first big mosh-pit/wall of death of the night. “Kai Tangata” ended its run with more fans than they started the show with.
If you know GojiraOne thing you can’t deny, the band has an incredibly artistic visual side. The huge curtain that covered the entire stage as things finished behind it was a great sign of their visual eye. Featuring many familiar symbols from the band’s discography, it was the first look at how immersive things get right down to the very last song.
A few minutes after 9 p.m., the curtain came down and we heard the first riffs of “Born for One Thing” bring a huge wave of sound to the ice rink. The quartet starts the show in top form and the lights are incredible.
The second song “Backbone” shows why Mario Duplantier has already earned his place in the hall of great metal drummers. Intense and groovy. The whole band covered in red light.
When the third hit of the night came with Magma’s masterpiece “Stranded”, the mesmerizing riff was illustrated with countless pixels on the big screen behind the group. In fact, “Stranded” was a nice heavy warm-up for “Flying Whales”, splitting the crowd in two again, which was good practice for the headbangers to enjoy the mosh pit with a great live soundtrack.
At this point in the show, thunder and lightning were shown on the screen, and singer Joe Duplantier, in his unique voice, performed the song “The Cell”. At this stage of the performance, the energy and charisma of bassist Jean-Michel Labadie is impressive. Jump and keep a good rhythm with Mario’s drums.
“Love/Remembrance” was a good barometer to see how fans were enjoying the show so far and indeed they were. We could only see a few smartphones on the horizon, which only proves the connection between the band and the audience.
Evil Mario made a quick appearance as the drummer displayed a funny sign written in Finnish, making it a good way to interact with Finns, which was an introduction Joe and Christian Andreu’s guitars get a moment in the spotlight on “Hold On”. Some taps convey a powerful message about how strong we need to be to survive in this ocean of life.
After the second Fortitude song, Grind had a beautiful screen saver to illustrate the arms waving and jumping in the front rows of the hall. Laser sound effects are already familiar sounds Gojira guitars.
It was ‘it’s time to open your eyes to this genocide“with a catchy riff”Silver“where the Duplantier brothers take over, especially with the sequel”Another world“and classic”L’Enfant Sauvage“.
“A toxic waste island” from 2008’s “The Way of All Flesh” is a song that doesn’t have many words, but enough to let the flow consume the whole place in a pleasant way. Another interesting moment was when Joe organized a choir with a thousand voices to play “Song“, which ended with a rain of paper inside the Black Box. A very different experience of the psychedelic atmosphereThe gift of guilt“.
The encore started a few minutes later with another episode taken from Fortitude. “New found“and visual flames”Amazon” ended an incredible evening with the band saying goodbye a few seconds after the last chord. If the 16 songs in the set list weren’t enough, at least we’re sure they’ll be back in the future with a new show that will make us immerse ourselves in this unique experience that Gojira can be done in a heavy, powerful and groovy way.
Smiles could be seen in every corner of the place. One more night to make this summer a new beginning in our lives. Hooray Gojira!