REVIEW : GOJIRA @ First Avenue

REVIEW :: GOJIRA
FIRST AVENUE in Minneapolis, MN
08/09/19

PHOTOS BY BRETT ZISLER

As soon as GOJIRA announced they were playing First Avenue in Minneapolis, I wasted no time in buying a ticket. Same can be said for Brett. This was a show we were not missing. GOJIRA have been an exciting find in the years of this radio show's existence. I'll never forget getting my hands on the promo copies of From Mars to Sirius and The Way of All Flesh. Something I had never heard before, something exciting. I love seeing bands at different venues around town from the Target Center opening for Metallica, headlining the defunct Mill City Nights, opening and then headlining at the Myth, two sets out at Somerset Amphitheater and now finally headlining First Avenue. There's no better venue for me.

The band came out to deafening reception and tore in to "Oroborus" and then decimated with "Backbone". I saw the CO2 coming during "Backbone" but what I wasn't ready for was the streamers shooting out at the beginning of "Stranded". There was a smile on every person's face in the crowd. "Stranded" got a huge reaction and it's one of those songs you can't deny - gets you excited. The band was enjoying themselves just as much as the crowd was enjoying being a part of this momentous occasion.

"Flying Whales" is always a crowd pleaser in the set and sounded massive as ever in this historic venue. "Love", "Terra Inc" and "Blow Me Away You(niverse)" from the Terra Incognita record showed up tonight. Always nice to see a band going back to their first record. "L'Enfant Sauvage" made a welcomed return on this tour sounding better than ever. There was something about this performance of "The Shooting Star", I'm not totally sure what but this was my favorite performance of it so far. Mario's drum solo lead into "Toxic Garbage Island" at the beginning of the encore. A crushing "Vacuity" signaled the show was coming to a close before the band led into their final song for the night "The Gift of Guilt".

Jean-Michel flew around the stage as he always does holding down the low end. Mario is fantastic to watch as he is a machine behind the drums. Joe and Christian trading crunch and solos are seriously one of the best guitar duos in metal right now. These 3 off day headlining shows from the Knotfest Roadshow are insanely special and not just because Minneapolis was one of the 3 to get these shows. But also as a victory lap for the Magma touring cycle as Joe confirmed on stage that they would go in to the studio to finish the new album once the Knotfest Roadshow was over. This was a show all of us in attendance will never forget and we will be doing the "Remember when Gojira headlined First Avenue!?!" for many years to come.

SEE MORE OF BRETT'S GOJIRA PHOTOS HERE!