Gojira @ The Palladium (Worcester, MA) on October 22, 2016 [Show Review & Photos]

French metallers Gojira just wrapped up what was likely the LOUDEST metal tour you could’ve seen this fall, the Magma tour, which saw the band criss-crossing North America with support act Tesseract. We caught up with the tour on a Saturday night as it headed to The Palladium in Worcester, MA. Despite it only being a two-band bill, scores of fans showed up to pack the venue–which had to open up its balcony in order to fit everyone in comfortably. This was my second time seeing Gojira, but my first time seeing them supporting their recent full-length release, Magma, and the longest set I’ve seen from them–numbering some 16 songs in all, including two encores.

Gojira kicked things off with the new track, “Only Pain,” before heading straight into the fan-favorite “The Heaviest Matter of the Universe.” While they would go on to play more new material from Magma, including “Silvera,” “Stranded,” “The Cell,” “The Shooting Star,” and “Pray,” their set did not leave out the older hits that fans have come to love like “Flying Whales,” “Toxic Garbage Island,” and “Oroborus.” It was surprising however, that they didn’t play a single song from their highly-acclaimed and well-received previous record, L’enfant Sauvage. That being said, the band put on a killer performance that should silence any detractors that would claim Gojira are anything but the tightest (and possibly the loudest) live metal band around. While this tour has ended, it is almost certain that they will be back in North America in 2017 for another run during this album’s touring cycle. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for any announcements!

For you lucky Europeans, you can catch Gojira supporting Alter Bridge in November and December and on a short headlining run in France in January of 2017.

Tour Dates (w/ Alter Bridge, Volbeat, Like A Storm):

11/23 – Manchester – Arena, UK
11/24 – London – O2 Arena, UK
11/26 – Nottingham – Motorpoint Arena, UK
11/27 – Birmingham – Genting Arena, UK
11/28 – Cardiff – Motorpoint Arena, UK
12/01 – Glasgow – Hydro, UK
12/02 – Leeds – First Direct Arena, UK

Tour Dates (w/ Alter Bridge, Like A Storm):

12/04 – Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle, Germany
12/05 – Cologne Palladium, Germany
12/06 – Hamburg Mehri Theater, Germany
12/09 – Bolognia Unipol Arena, Italy
12/10 – Munich Zenith, Germany
12/11 – Basel Jakobshalle, Switzerland

Headlining Tour Dates:

01/23 – L’Autre Canal – Nancy, France
01/24 – La coop de Mai – Clermont, France
01/25 – Le Stereolux – Nantes, France
01/26 – Rocher de Palmer – Cenon, France
01/29 – LA LAITERIE – Strasbourg, France
01/30 – LE TRANSBORDEUR – Villeurbanne, France
01/31 – Le Bikini Ramonville – St Agne, France

Check out the song “The Shooting Star”