Gojira, Arenele Romane, 04.07.17

I still have the chant of „GO-JI-RA GO-JI-RA” ringing in my ears. It was such a fun night, even though Gojira is not a particularly fun band (they’re more on the serious spectre). But more about that a bit later.

We didn’t arrive in time for Xaon, which is always a problem when it comes to opening bands of shows that take place during the week. We entered the venue just as they were getting off the stage, but from what we gathered, they gave a pretty awesome performance, as we could hear the crowd cheering for them from quite a distance from the arena.

We did catch The Blackmordia, but I don’t think we would’ve been any worse off without that. It’s a very young band, and when I say young, I mean really young. They’re somewhere around 18-19 years old and as they confessed, they grew up listening to all these iconic bands, wearing their T-shirts at school, and now they have the chance to open for Gojira. Their enthusiasm, quite normal under these circumstances, was so sweet and you could tell they were trying their best and were very excited to be there. Unfortunately, their emotions got the better of them, as the first part contained some of the most off-tune vocals I’ve heard in a metal concert. By the end, the lead singer found his lungs again and proved he has a decent voice, and I figured getting overwhelmed when you have so little experience and you’re singing in front of so many people is not something I can blame him for. I don’t truly blame them for having a music so lacking in salt and pepper either, since they’re probably still looking for an identity (the band is been around for 4 years already, but seriously, how much of a band identity can you have when you’re 14 and you’re still struggling with your personal one?). However, as much as I couldn’t get mad or disappointed, I couldn’t get excited either and I had more fun watching the pigeons that were walking curiously on the stage. Maybe next time…

Thankfully, Gojira more than made up for everything. Except for a calmer moment in the middle of the setlist for everyone to catch their breath, it was hectic from minute 1 to minute 90. They were full of energy, the crowd was full of energy, everyone was headbanging, moshing, crowdsurfing, cheering, clapping… it was such a powerful and intense atmosphere!

The venue was packed, which is something that you don’t normally see here lately (I guess we’ve been spoiled with all sorts of bands coming to visit us, so we have to pick our financial battles), and for me that was quite surprising because I had no idea Gojira were this popular here. From the look of things (actually, mostly sound of things), everyone was very anxious to see them and judging by the huge smiles on all the faces at the end of the show, I would say they weren’t disappointed. I know me and my husband certainly weren’t! The band seemed very happy to be here too, I guess they were just as taken by surprise I was by how popular they are in Romania. They mentioned it’s the first time they’re visiting us in 22 years of singing, but that they will surely come back again because they loved the reception and I’m pretty sure these weren’t just empty words.

I had heard many good things about Gojira’s live performance (going back as far as when I didn’t even have an idea who these guys were) and my husband was just thrilled to see them, so I was expecting a truly kick-ass show. To be honest I still don’t fully understand the „best show ever” declarations concerning this band (although I guess things are seen differently when you’re a huge fan and not just a casual listener as myself), but I would be lying to even hint at some sort of reproach. There’s really nothing bad to be said about it. It was professional, it was genuine and it definitely was very engaging, so I ended up having tons of fun. 

Inspired by Joe urging us to forget about the past and the worries and just enjoy the present, I let myself sink completely in the music and atmosphere and danced and headbanged away, occasionally looking around at all the happy people that were also following Joe’s advice. I couldn’t be taken out of my state even by the girl next to me who kept hitting me, stepping on my foot or putting her hair in my face and kept apologising with a huge smile that was simultaneously saying „I’m so embarrassed I did it again” and „I’m so thrilled to see these guys I can’t care about anything else right now”. Truth be told, no one could get mad at her, she was so sweet with her immense excitement to be there that I couldn’t do anything else but smile back at her just as wildly and yell „don’t worry” for the tenth time.

A special mention goes to the location. Arenele Romane (The Roman Arenas) is a very popular venue for live shows, but for most of the year it’s covered by a gigantic tent. When the tent is taken down, however, you can finally see how great this place is. The fact that it’s so spacious and has seats on the sides (which is something you rarely get at a concert) is most definitely a plus, but the most beautiful part is the impressive architecture, brought to life by the colourful lights that shine on it once the night goes down. I remember even Blind Guardian commented on how beautiful this place is when they visited it a few years ago. It’s been left to degradation for too long a time, but it’s a place that deserves restoration more than anything else in this city.

So there you have it: awesome band, awesome crowd, awesome location… what’s not to like? I left the show feeling rejuvenated and so relaxed, it was a great discharge of energy and stress. And people say heavy metal makes the listeners aggressive…