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Gojira have released moving live footage of their performance of Global Warming from a show in Lyon, France last December.
The Bayonne-based four-piece shared the video earlier today (May 19), and it captures a rare performance of the closer from 2005 album From Mars To Sirius. Before their French tour late last year, they’d only played it live once, during a studio session filmed in 2018 and released to YouTube.
The band explained that Global Warming was not only a “challenging” song to play, but difficult to place on a setlist. “It’s emotionally heavy, and would almost ‘hurt’ the rest of the songs in a way,” they said.
Gojira brought out a number of From Mars To Sirius cuts during their French tour to mark its 20th anniversary. They also performed setlist regulars Backbone, Flying Whales and The Heaviest Matter Of The Universe, alongside From The Sky and a medley of four other songs: Where Dragons Dwell, To Sirius, Ocean Planet and In The Wilderness.
The tour also saw Gojira operate as a quintet, with Greg Kubacki of Car Bomb temporarily joining as live guitarist. His playing replaced that of singer/guitarist Joe Duplantier, who’d previously sustained a hand injury and could only perform vocal duties during the trek.
Gojira have just returned to the road for a European tour supporting Metallica. They’ll perform at Stadion Śląski in Chorzów, Poland, with Knocked Loose opening. Some future dates on the tour will employ Metallica’s No Repeat Weekends format, where they play the same venue twice and perform totally different setlists. Gojira and Knocked Loose will serve as supports on the first days of this format, with Pantera and Avatar supporting on the second days.
In addition, the band will play select North American festival dates this summer. Get details via their website.
Gojira are also in the middle of recording their next album, which will follow 2021’s Fortitude. Drummer Mario Duplantier said last August that “some drums and guitars and basses” have already been tracked.
“It took us a long time,” he admitted during an interview at Bloodstock Open Air. “We needed that time, I think, just to make sure we are all on the same page, make sure what Gojira is bringing next is strong enough.”
The drummer told Le Parisien that fans can expect “big guitar riffs and a more metal, but more modern, sound”.
“There are two more songs to refine,” he added. “We wanted to move quickly, but we didn’t succeed. We thought about it so much that we almost got lost. It’s harder to match our tastes than when we were 20, and that’s normal.”
