When I first found out that Gojira were going to be playing around this time (in my interview with Joe last year at the Hydro), ittedly I was rather excited. Having been nominated for a Grammy for their latest album no less, it’s arguable that they are going from strength to strength at the moment. So I decided to brave not only the weather, but the drunken crowds out celebrating St Paddy’s day and go and see the quintet once again.
Opening up for them on the stage were Long Island metallers, Car Bomb (7). Right from the first note, they gave off a vibe of Meshuggah and, like them, heavily used flashing strobe lights. Suffering from some unfortunate sound issues, the music all sounded a bit too similar for my liking. There was a lot of groove to them and the ‘clean’ vocals did help break up the similarity a bit though. Whilst they didn’t really do it for me, a good half to two thirds of the crowd seemed to be enjoying them and nodding along to their music.
Next up were a band that literally everyone has been talking about these days.
In my interview with Joe prior to the show (coming soon!), he said that they were “like a breath of fresh air in the scene”. With a statement like that, I had rather high hopes for them. Simply walking on stage before exploding into life, Code Orange (9) then set about bringing their music to the masses that had now gathered.
ittedly, they weren’t really to my taste but, bloody hell, can they put on a show. They exuded such an energy that sent the crowd wild with crowd-surfers appearing here there and everywhere. Playing songs from across their back catalogue along with songs from their latest effort Forever, they delivered a super set and set the bar exceptionally high for whoever was next to come on.
However, that next band was none other than the legends that are Gojira (10). Opening with “Only Pain” from last year’s Grammy nominated Magma, the crowd once again sprung into life but somehow managed to double their insanity. I lost count of the amount of people that got crowd-surfed whilst I was in the photo-pit and then even more came after that!
Taking a small break before playing the next song, Joe asked if everyone was ok and then, praising the crowd, said “Every show should be in Glasgow”. No sooner had those words left his mouth, the room shook with an almighty roar from the packed room of eager fans. The band then continued on with their set, incorporating both new and old songs in such a way that time just seemed to fly away. Coming back on to an encore of “Vacuity”, the quartet delivered one of the most complete performances I’ve ever seen in all my years of gigging.
As soon as the band had finished playing, another thunderous cheer shot up from the crowd and the inevitable chants of “we want more” rang out. “We don’t have any more songs to play you! But we will see you again very soon” Joe said to the masses that had gathered. Whether that’s true or not, we shall see…
Arguably one of the most talked about metal bands of the modern day, this evening not only showed that Gojira are still a force to be reckoned with, but that there will always be a strong metal scene and new bands will always come along. You might not like them, but those bands will influence someone to pick up that instrument and write some music which not only you, but several others will enjoy.
All photos courtesy Bukavac Photography.
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What a night! Been going to gig’s for 35 years and Gojira in Glasgow has to be up there in my top 5 of all time!