“It’s French charm: you know, beheaded people.” Gojira respond to claims Olympics performance was “satanic”

Gojira have responded to claims that their Olympic Games performance was “satanic”.

The French extreme metal titans performed as part of the Olympics’ opening ceremony in Paris on Friday (July 26), playing a heavy version of revolutionary song Ah! Ça Ira with opera singer Marina Viotti.

The show featured extensive pyro, with Viotti dressed as a beheaded Marie Antoinette, and took place on the side of La Conciergerie. Antoinette was sentenced to death at the castle/prison in 1793.

The performance was branded as “satanic” by some Christian observers. One prominent influencer cited the show as an example of the West “worshipping the devil”.

Gojira singer/guitarist Joe Duplantier has denied satanic intent in a new Rolling Stone interview, highlighting the performance’s revolutionary imagery.

“It’s none of that,” Duplantier says when asked if the show was “satanic”.

“It’s French history. It’s French charm, you know, beheaded people, red wine, and blood all over the place – it’s romantic, it’s normal. There’s nothing satanic.”

Duplantier continues: “France is a country that made a separation between the state and religion during the revolution. And it’s something very important, very dear to the foundation of republican France.

“We call it laïcité. It’s when the state is not religious anymore, so therefore it’s free in terms of expression and symbolism.

“It’s all about history and facts. We don’t look too close closely at symbolism in terms of religion.”

Duplantier also reveals that he and his bandmates were in the dark about much of the planning for the opening ceremony, including which song Gojira were going to perform.

“[The choice of Ah! Ça Ira] wasn’t us at all,” he says.

“That was the team of young people and composers and designers that decided the whole theme. We were in the dark when it came to the whole ceremony; we were just concentrating on that picture and that moment of Marie Antoinette.

“We didn’t know how it was going to look or how it would fit in with a whole performance. I didn’t know Lady Gaga or Celine Dion were going to be there.”

Gojira will tour North America with Korn from September. See the list of dates below.

Gojira North American tour 2024, supporting Korn:

Sep 12: Tampa Midflorida Credit Union Ampitheatre, FL
Sep 14: West Palm Beach Ithink Financial Amphitheatre, FL
Sep 16: Alpharetta Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, GA
Sep 18: Charlotte PNC Music Pavilion, NC
Sep 20: Camden Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, NJ
Sep 21: Mansfield Xfinity Center, MA
Sep 23: Newark Prudential Center, NJ
Sep 25: Toronto Budweiser Stage, Canada
Sep 27: Clarkston Pine Knob Music Theatre, MI
Sep 28: Tinley Park Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre, IL
Sep 29: Louisville Louder Than Life, KY
Oct 02: Albuquerque Isleta Amphitheater, NM
Oct 03: Phoenix Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre, AZ
Oct 05: Los Angeles BMO Stadium, CA
Oct 08: Portland Moda Center, OR
Oct 10: Tacoma Dome, WA
Oct 12: Nampa Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater, ID
Oct 13: Salt Lake City Delta Center, UT
Oct 16: Greenwood Village Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, CO
Oct 18: Kansas City T-Mobile Center, MO
Oct 20: The Woodlands Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, TX
Oct 21: San Antonio Frost Bank Center, TX
Oct 23: Tulsa Bok Center, OK
Oct 25: Omaha CHI Health Center, NE
Oct 27: Saint Paul Xcel Energy Center, MN

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.