In an interview with Heavy Consequence ( via Blabbermouth ), Mario Duplantier , drummer for Gojira , spoke about the band's performance at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games .
In July, the band surprised the audience by performing a version of "Ah! Ça Ira," a popular song from the French Revolution, alongside opera singer Marina Viotti and several decapitated figures representing Queen Marie Antoinette.
Mario expressed how "surreal" it is to be the first heavy metal band to perform at the Olympic Games. He mentioned that the group is still trying to comprehend the impact of the event on the metal world. Mario highlighted that he felt privileged, since the ceremony took place in France and some of the event's creators were big fans of the band.
“There aren’t that many bands in France. Imagine you have a ceremony in England, for example, there are thousands of legendary bands there. But in France, it’s not quite like that. There are many bands that play outside of France, but the list isn’t that long. Therefore, there was a good chance we would be invited. So, we still feel very humbled. It was an incredible moment and a great boost to our career,” said Duplantier.
When asked about the time between the invitation and the performance, the drummer said they received the proposal in November 2023 and the ceremony took place in July 2024. The band had to keep everything secret and collaborated with the ceremony's musical composer, since they couldn't play their own music.
After the presentation at the event, Mario commented that the changes in his life are subtle. Gojira, who already has a 30-year career and a consolidated global trajectory, felt a positive impact, but not a drastic one. He noticed that some people recognize him more in stores, saying, "I saw you at the Olympics," but this hasn't resulted in a radical transformation.
“But it wasn’t a crazy change. Besides, it’s a band that performed; it’s not like it was a single person. We’re a band and an entity, so it’s not like one of us is the main one with a name. In fact, it was Gojira performing there, but a lot of people don’t realize I’m playing in Gojira, as part of the band as well.”
“But what we can see is that there’s a general respect for the band now, since we did this. And, as I said, we were very lucky to be able to do this and get this bonus,” he concluded.
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