Watch: GOJIRA Plays First Concert With CAR BOMB's GREG KUBACKI

French progressive metallers GOJIRA kicked off a tour of their home country Thursday night (November 27) at Reims Arena in Reims, France. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

GOJIRA guitarist/vocalist Joseph Duplantier recently underwent "minor surgery" on his right hand, rendering him unable to play guitar on the trek. As a result of his injury, he and his bandmates have hired Greg Kubacki of the New York-based mathcore act CAR BOMB to play guitar for GOJIRA on the tour, which is scheduled to conclude on December 12 in Strasbourg.

The setlist for the Reims concert was as follows:

01. Only Pain
02. The Axe
03. Backbone
04. Stranded
05. The Cell
06. Wisdom Comes (first performance since 2017)
07. Flying Whales
08. From The Sky
09. Another World
10. Silvera
11. Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça Ira!) ([traditional] cover)
12. Born In Winter (live debut)
13. Born For One Thing
14. The Chant
15. Amazonia

Encore:

16. L'enfant Sauvage
17. Where Dragons Dwell / To Sirius / Ocean Planet / In The Wilderness ("From Mars to Sirius" medley)
18. Global Warming (live debut)

When Duplantier first went public with his injury on November 23, he shared X-ray images of his broken hand and he included the following message: "Hey! I hurt my hand a few weeks ago. After getting minor surgery, I'm on the mend but unfortunately I won't be able to play all my guitar parts on the next tour in France… No worries though, we hired our good friend [Greg Kubacki] of the incredible [CAR BOMB] to 'Give us a hand'. The mood in our camp is up there though, as we're embarking for an interesting experience on our own turf. Show must go ooooon".

This past February, GOJIRA was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 67th annual Grammy Awards, which was held at the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center) in Los Angeles, California. GOJIRA was nominated for "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça Ira!)" — a version of the French Revolution-era standard "Ah! Ça Ira!" — which the band performed at last year's Olympic Games opening ceremony.

In July 2024, GOJIRA performed a surprise rendition of "Ah! Ça Ira" alongside opera singer Marina Viotti as well as a number of beheaded figures representing the slain Queen Marie Antoinette. The performance took place outside the Conciergerie, a former prison and residence of French kings during the French Revolution where Antoinette was held before she was beheaded in 1793.

GOJIRA made history as the first metal band to ever perform at the Olympic Games. The performance made international headlines and was widely regarded as one of the most talked about moments from the 2024 summer Olympics.

Prior to winning this year's Grammy, GOJIRA had been nominated for a Grammy Award three times — twice in 2017, for "Best Metal Performance" and "Best Rock Album" ("Magma") and once in 2022 for "Best Metal Performance".

GOJIRA is considered a standard-bearer for French rock and bringing French rock to an international audience. Metal Hammer declared GOJIRA "metal's most important band" in 2016.

GOJIRA's latest album, "Fortitude", entered Billboard's Top Albums chart at No. 1 in May 2021, while also claiming the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Top Current Albums, Current Rock Albums and Current Hard Music Albums tallies. The release also marked a career high debut on the Billboard 200 for GOJIRA, arriving at No. 12, with several career high chart positions and Top 10 debuts in countries around the globe including: France (No. 2),United Kingdom (No. 6),Australia (No. 3),Germany (No. 8),Belgium (No. 2),Netherlands (No. 4),Denmark (No. 3),Portugal (No. 4),Finland (No. 2) and Norway (No. 10).

Furthermore, GOJIRA concluded a month-long fundraising initiative in support of the indigenous-owned NGO The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) who advocate for environmental and cultural rights of indigenous tribes in the Amazon. Working with the social good-focused digital platform Propeller, the charitable campaign raised over $300,000 through an auction and raffle of one-of-a-kind items from the band and their friends in METALLICA, TOOL, SLIPKNOT, SLAYER, Slash and more. All proceeds were donated to APIB to support their work aiding the indigenous tribes of the Amazon who have suffered immensely — victims of deforestation, land loss, forced labor, violence, and harassment.

Recorded and produced by Joseph Duplantier at Silver Cord Studio — GOJIRA's Ridgewood, Queens, New York headquarters — and mixed by Andy Wallace (NIRVANA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE),"Fortitude" is GOJIRA's first album in five years and the follow-up to 2016's Grammy-nominated LP "Magma". A collection of songs urging humanity to imagine a new world and then make it happen, "Fortitude" has been earning widespread critical praise with Rolling Stone naming it one of their best albums of April 2021 and remarking "It's all the rage of death metal mixed with the conscience of punk rock and the musicality of progressive rock." NPR hailed "Another World" as "an apocalyptic banger," and Paste called "Into The Storm" a "much-needed revolutionary anthem." Stereogum declared, "hearing this band operating at their peak is a life-affirming thing," while Revolver attested "Fortitude" "could spark a revolution."