Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

Live report + Photos by Christian Tallone

An explosive Immaculate Conception this year, for a highly anticipated show.

After departing from Reims at the end of November and then passing through Paris, Lille, and Marseille, GOJIRA landed in Nice for their fourth-to-last concert on home soil. This 12-date tour is setting France’s major cities on fire, supported by Denmark’s Neckbreakker and Canada’s Comeback Kid.

Expectations are high—let’s see what happened on this sunny pre-Christmas day on the French Riviera.

I arrive in front of the Palais Nikaia well in advance, surprised by the fact that—considering the sell-outs at some previous dates—even just minutes before doors open there are very few people around. Around 6:00 PM the gates finally open, and we head inside.

NECKBREAKKER:

Opening the concert at 7:30 PM as scheduled are the very young death metal newcomers Neckbreakker, fresh off the release of their album Within the Viscera on Nuclear Blast. They blast about half an hour of brutal death metal straight into our faces. The five guys give everything they have in the limited time available, with all the ferocity of a band that has just released its debut album and earned the privilege of taking part in a tour of this magnitude.

Frontman Kristoffer Kofoed drives the band through a solid performance, though it’s a shame about the somewhat muddy sound: the drums are low and muffled, the guitars lack clarity—basically only the vocals really come through.

This is probably also due to the fact that the venue is still half empty at this point. A band that may still be a bit raw, but with enthusiasm that fully involved everyone present. I hope to see them again soon, and I’ll definitely dig deeper into their work by blasting Within the Viscera at full volume.

COMEBACK KID:

After a quick changeover—keeping the same portion of the stage and the basic Neckbreakker setup (banner and very dark lighting)—it’s time for the Canadians Comeback Kid. A much more seasoned band, active since 2001 with eight albums under their belt, they hammer us with hardcore punk in the tradition of genre giants like Biohazard and Hatebreed.

The sound is noticeably better for them: the New York–style guitars of Jeremy Hiebert and Stu Ross fill the atmosphere over the massive, fast rhythm section of bassist Chase Brenneman and drummer Loren Lagare. Frontman Andrew Neufeld whips the crowd into a constant pogo, repeatedly calling for circle pits and even climbing down from the stage to scale the barriers and sing along with the fans!

Filthy growls, chants from the dirtiest punk school, sweat, and a Black Flag T-shirt paint the perfect picture of these roughly 40 minutes of pure, raw hardcore. What else can be said? Direct, powerful, violent—full throttle from start to finish. An excellent performance that warmed up both speakers and ears perfectly.

And as everyone knows, when you sweat, you need to drink—so beer it is, while we wait for the arrival of the evening’s highly anticipated headliners.

GOJIRA:

Here we are. It’s 9:30 PM when the lights go down and a roar shakes the Nikaia, now finally packed with fans of all ages, French and Italian alike—given we’re just a few kilometers from the border—all united by the same excitement to see a band that, active since 1996 and about to celebrate 30 years, has slowly climbed to the top and is now unquestionably one of the best bands around. They’re celebrating this massive milestone after conquering the other side of the ocean, with an all-French tour that somehow brings them back to their roots.

Lasers, blinding white LED lights, smoke, the giant screen projecting images of futuristic human creations, a chaotic tribal backing track… a crescendo of volume and noise… then sudden silence, a few seconds of darkness… an explosion!

Walls of fire erupt as Gojira open with the terrifying Only Pain—powerful, precise, chills… almost tears. The crowd goes completely insane, and for the next two hours the security staff will do nothing but catch people flying over the barriers.

The opener is followed immediately, without a moment’s breath, by the equally devastating The Axe and Backbone. Mario Duplantier behind the drums is an incredible machine, and together with the visceral bass of Jean-Michel Labadie they create a colossal rhythm section. Christian Andreu’s guitar is ferocious, supported by the six strings of Greg Bubacki—the American member of Car Bomb, also known for his work with Meshuggah—recruited to replace Joe Duplantier, who is injured in his right hand and performing tonight exclusively as vocalist. A role that doesn’t prevent him from being just as compelling.

Stranded, the granite-solid The Cell, Wisdom Comes, and the iconic Flying Whales—as hypnotic as it is violent—made even more impactful by a massive inflatable whale soaring above the crowd before disappearing into the darkness at the end of the song. This gives way to police sirens and a Mario Duplantier wearing a thief’s mask and a royal crown, running across the stage with the Mona Lisa under his arm, then holding it up like a sign reading:

“Nice!!!… ça va??… you want more double pedal???? 5 minutes non-stop??? Make some noise!!!!!”

And those five minutes of non-stop double bass arrive, and they make plenty of noise with the crushing From the Sky, a brutal machine-gun blast of double kick drums. Then it’s like a rocket launched into the universe as the four astronauts give us the magnificent Another World, followed closely by the famous Silvera.

We’re halfway through the show, and it feels like the best is still to come. Joe Duplantier invites Marina Viotti on stage, the Franco-Swiss opera singer already known to metal fans for her appearance with the band at the opening ceremony of the 2024 French Olympics, to hit us with a decapitated Marie Antoinette during Ah! Ça Ira!!! (Mea Culpa).

A symbolic song of the French Revolution, previously interpreted by the iconic Édith Piaf and fantastically rearranged by Gojira.

We jump from L’Enfant Sauvage to Fortitude with Born in Winter and Born for One Thing, then break our bones with a medley from their third album From Mars to Sirius (Where Dragons Dwell / To Sirius / Ocean Planet / In the Wilderness).

The Bayonne natives are unstoppable, giving their all with every note and thanking the French Riviera crowd: “It’s the first time we play in Nice—thank you!” Picks rain down, and Marina returns on stage in evening wear, leading the entire audience in the chorus of the beautiful The Chant, followed by the overwhelming Amazonia—a song I love, clearly infused with Sepultura influences—in which Joe, despite his brace, grabs a Gibson Diavoletto for an incredible and bloody three-guitar version!

They exit the stage briefly, then return for two encores, running purely on adrenaline and the fury of their last remaining energy: L’Enfant Sauvage, closing with Global Warming.

After about two hours of showtime—18 songs plus four in the medley—and a performance that was nearly flawless both musically and visually, they don’t hold back with their goodbyes: four T-shirt cannons, picks, drumsticks, setlists!

A far cry from bands that leave the stage without even a forced smile.

Gojira love what they do. They truly love their audience, and that love is returned. They break down the barriers between us and them—we all become one. In nearly 30 years of concerts, I’ve rarely felt this… actually, never this strongly. One of the best concerts I’ve ever seen in my life.

For anyone who has never had the chance to see this incredible band live, I can only say: do it as soon as possible. For everyone else, there’s no need to say anything—they already know.

I’d like to personally thank Gojira and their management for giving me the opportunity to attend such an epic event, for allowing me, in a way, to work for them and bear witness for others. It was a pleasure and an honor!

And a huge thank-you to Mario Duplantier for gifting his drumstick to our little Blue, who at just 10 years old bravely earned her very first spot at the barricade! Thank you, Gojira!

GOJIRA – Nice 8 december 2025 – setlist

Only Pain
The Axe
Backbone
Stranded
The Cell
Wisdom Comes
Flying Whales
From the Sky
Another World
Silvera
Mea culpa (Ah! Ça ira!) ([traditional] cover) (with Marina Viotti)
Born in Winter
Born for One Thing
Where Dragons Dwell / To Sirius / Ocean Planet / In the Wilderness (From Mars To Sirius medley)
The Chant (with Marina Viotti)
Amazonia

Encore:
L’enfant sauvage
Global Warming

Video courtesy of SWAN BOIS captured from the show: