Gojira is now streaming their cover of "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)" from the Paris Olympics opening ceremony in full, as opposed to the audio-only stream we've gotten prior. The cover was performed alongside visuals of a beheaded Marie Antoinette and blood cannons, as well as additional vocals from opera singer Marina Viotti. It's exactly as metal as you remember it being, if not moreso.
In an interview with Heavy Consequence, Gojira drummer Mario Duplantier spoke a little about the performance and his recognition by people in public afterward. "It's really subtle. Because we've been a band for 30 years and we already had a career and we were touring worldwide," said Duplantier. "But, yeah, it's a plus, it's a bonus. You go to a store and some people are, like, 'I saw you at the Olympics.' But it's not like a crazy change.
"Also, it's a band that played; it's not like one person. We're a band and an entity, so it's not like one of us was the main guy with a name. It's really Gojira performing over there, but many people don't realize I'm playing in Gojira, as a band also. But, no, what we can tell it's the overall respect for the band now, since we did that. And, as I said, we, we were very lucky to be able to do it and having this fucking bonus."
In a separate interview with Rolling Stone, frontman Joe Duplantier touched on the fact that the Olympic Committee could've chosen any bigger metal band to perform and why Gojira was probably the right choice in terms of capturing the world's attention.
"I try not to think too much about that because it continues to blow my mind [laughs]. The Olympic Committee could have asked literally anybody to play. I'm thinking of bands like Metallica or AC/DC that are household names and powerhouses in our genre that we all revere and are our heroes. We never considered ourselves the biggest band in the world that would be worthy to play the Olympics or anything like that. It's so weird.
"The way I think about it is it's a challenge in 2024 to give hope to people, to show something original. People have seen everything from landing on the moon to A.I. So it was a challenge for Paris and the Committee to express something fresh, new, and original [by booking us] and also show what France is all about.
"At least for our part, the fact that metal and opera had never been seen together on TV and in front of so many people before is a statement for the country of France. It’s saying, 'Hey, look. We’re still pushing the boundaries in the world.' So congrats to France for putting this together."
