Gojira have said they felt they were under pressure to represent “the whole metal community” during their appearance at the 2024 Olympic opening ceremony.

The French heavy metallers gave an explosive performance of ‘Ah, Ça Ira’ during the ceremony in Paris on Friday (July 26), alongside the experimental opera singer Marina Viotti.

The song, which translates as ‘It’ll Be Fine’, was popularised during the French Revolution, and was included in the ‘Liberté’ section of the ceremony, which placed the emphasis on France’s history of political action and freedom.

The band appeared on the side of a castle, surrounded by fire and bursts of red streamers to represent blood. They made history as the first metal band ever to perform during an Olympic opening ceremony. Their performance followed a portion dedicated to Les Miserables and came just after a beheaded Marie Antoinette was shown singing.

Now, speaking to the New York Times, the band’s frontman Joe Duplantier has explained that taking on the performance led the band to feel the pressure to represent the genre and its followers before one of the largest television audiences in the world.

Duplantier said he wanted the performance to be a source of pride for “the whole metal community on the world stage”, adding that the song in question was particularly appropriate, given its connection to a period of revolution.

“It was a very bloody era of French history,” he said. “So it was very metal.”

Writing on Instagram after the show, the band said: “Paris!!! Une experience inoubliable! [An unforgettable experience!] Once in a lifetime experience. Thank you Paris, you looked good from up there!”

The ceremony, which proved to be divisive, also included performances from Lady Gaga, who sang the cabaret classic ‘Mon Truc En Plumes’, and Celine Dion, who brought the show to a close with a cover of Edith Piaf’s ‘L’Hymne A L’Amour’.

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