Photo by Jonathan Arevalo
Gojira‘s North American tour in support of Magma (Roadrunner Records) came to a close with one memorable night of metal at Terminal 5 here in New York City. Gojira is no stranger to this venue, as they’ve opened for countless acts there in the past, but Sunday night was their night to headline. The 3,000 capacity venue was packed with fans on all three levels, but none of us were prepared for the powerful show that was destined for our eyes and ears.
Being that the concert was taking place here in the city, we were treated to an opening set from Car Bomb that set the tone for the night perfectly. Their mixture of crushing breakdowns, ungodly drumming, and mind boggling time structures left the audience in awe. As their set progressed, the fans finally began to connect with the music, and the pits were opened for what would be a wild night on the first floor.
Once Tesseract hit the stage, the atmosphere quickly changed to an emotional, yet intense ride with the guys from across the pond. They’ve been direct support for Gojira on this entire run, and after their set was over, you knew exactly why. Their signature sound has progressed so brilliantly over the past few albums, and Daniel Tompkins is quickly becoming one of the most entertaining front men in metal. His passion comes through in every word, and the band behind him has never sounded so tight. Throw in the incredible light show going on around them, and their show prepared the fans perfectly for the highly anticipated headliners.
As the lights went out at 10PM, the chants for Gojira began, and once they hit the stage, the place just exploded. They opened their seventeen song set with ‘Only Pain’, and from that moment on, they had the crowd hanging on for dear life. For the next hour and a half, they flawlessly performed songs from their catalog in a way that just overpowered everyone in the room. Songs like ‘The Heaviest Matter of the Universe’, ‘Flying Whales’, ‘Backbone’, ‘Toxic Garbage Island’, and ‘Clone’ reminded us of their past records that helped this band make a name for themselves, and with the addition of the Magma material to the set, it was an emotional roller coaster that captivated the New York crowd. The raw passion of the new tracks like ‘Silver’, ‘Stranded’, ‘The Shooting Star’ and ‘Pray’ can bring fans to tears, but the riffs can create absolute chaos in the pit, and that’s exactly what happened throughout the entire night. The intensity that the band performed with on stage was matched by the audience, and it made for an all encompassing experience that no one in that room will ever forget. As I said before, this was Gojira‘s night to finally headline Terminal 5, and after it was all said and done, they proved, once again, why they are one of the best live acts we’ve ever witnessed in this scene.
Check out our photos from the incredible night below thanks to Jonathan Arevalo!
