Reaching the end of their run across the United States and Canada, the metal juggernauts of Gojira and Tesseract devoured the crowd of energetic fans at the Fillmore in Detroit.
First exploding on the stage in a barrage of hammering riffs were Car Bomb. This band from Long Island, New York joined the tour for the Detroit show and upcoming New York show. Their new album ‘Meta’ will be released on October 28th and was produced by Joe Duplantier of Gojira. This was the first that many in the audience had heard the band. With each successive jagged and aurally complex assault, they gained the admiration of the crowd.
The mind-melting progressive music of Tesseract took to the stage next. The band was touring in support of their new album, ‘Polaris’. As the band’s name, implies their set was thought-provoking and multi-dimensional.
They started off with “Phoenix” from ‘Polaris’ , with their set also including a few choice cuts from the albums ‘One’ and ‘Altered State’ such as “Deception”, “The Impossible”, and “Retrospect”. Combined with an intriguing and moody light show, Tesseract’s performance was mesmerizing. They did a fine job of getting the crowd ready for the monster yet to come.
Darkness descended upon the Fillmore, and the crowd erupted in a deafening roar as Gojira took the stage. The staccato attack of “Only Pain” ignited the audience into movement. The crowd pulsated with the dazzling light show, faces contorted as they joined with Joe Duplantier’s plaintive screams.
Gojira’s critically acclaimed ‘Magma’ album served as the backbone of their set. “Silvera” with its monstrous riffs and nimble octave bridge sounded gargantuan live as Christian Andreu and Joe Duplantier hammered their guitars. The palm-muted fury at the opening of “The Cell” and the juxtaposed openings within the song let the depth of Jean-Michel Labadie’s bass resonate through the audience. Jean-Michel was a whirling dervish as he moved about the stage and engaged the fans.
Gojira managed to include key motifs from their collected works, which were met with enthusiastic approval from the crowd. This included “Heaviest Matter of the Universe”, “Backbone”, and a neck-splintering version of “Wisdom Comes”. This song threatened to tear a hole in space and time with squealing guitars beckoning the crowd like a siren’s song.
The set had to be a workout for drummer Mario Duplantier, yet he showed no signs of fatigue during the drum solo between “Wisdom Comes” and “The Shooting Star”. Mario is unquestionably one of the best drummers on tour today, and his solo combined with the captivating video display behind him was a highlight of the show.
The evening also marked the 40th birthday of vocalist/guitarist Joe Duplantier, who mentioned this was his best birthday ever and that the band loved the city of Detroit. Offering up their heartfelt thanks, the band exited the stage. This generated a steady chant of “GOJIRA!” and with just a brief moment to rest, the band came back on stage.
Joe asked the crowd if they wanted to hear some old-school death metal, and they tore into “Clone”. This was followed by “Oroborus” and finally, “Vacuity”. The band once again thanked everyone for attending the show. Mario wished his brother a happy birthday and Jean-Michel brought out a bottle of champagne which he dosed Joe with to bring this metal celebration to a joyful close.
Bottom Line: Gojira brought the immensity and intensity of their colossal music to life on the stage at the Fillmore in Detroit. From the beginning, the band played with fierce determination within an aura of bliss. They captured the heart and soul of their fans with neck wrenchingly heavy music and a mesmerizing light and video show. In the process, they celebrated the birthday of one of their own with their faithful audience.
Also check out our Photo Gallery of the event here!