Joe Duplantier (above) and Christian Andreu. Photos by Alex Morgan |
Our friends in French metal ensemble Gojira are certainly busy this spring. The boys from Bayonne recently introduced the band’s new online store, released the band’s first-ever songbook and announced a slew of May 2009 U.S. and Canadian tour dates.
At Gojira’s website (www.gojira-music.com), the band’s new online store (http://gojira.jaitoutdonne.com) boasts more than a dozen T-shirts, plus a couple hooded sweatshirts and a bonnet cap.
The merch also includes Gojira’s first songbook—an illustrated 135-page guide to October 2008 fourth album The Way of All Flesh, complete with exclusive photos and drawings of the band. In standard notation, tablature, chord charts and lyrics, the book dissects album tracks “Oroborus,” “Toxic Garbage Island,” “A Sight to Behold,” “Yama’s Messengers,” “The Silver Cord,” “All the Tears,” “The Art of Dying,” “Esoteric Surgery,” “Vacuity,” “Wolf Down the Earth” and “The Way of All Flesh.”
Finally, Messrs. Joe Duplantier (guitar, vocals), Mario Duplantier (drums), Christian Andreu (guitar) and Jean-Michel Labadie (bass) have announced dates for their first North American headlining tour this spring, supported by the Chariot and Car Bomb. Exclusive presale tickets for members of Gojira’s online community are available now at the Artist Arena website (https://tixx1.artistarena.com/gojira); the first ten buyers in each market will attend a meet-and-greet with the band.
May 2009 tour dates are:
1 Springfield, Va., Jaxx
2 Worcester, Mass., Palladium
3 Philadelphia, TLA
4 Cleveland, Peabody’s
6 New York, Blender Theatre
7 Montreal, Club Soda
8 Toronto, Mod Club
9 Detroit, Harpo’s
10 Chicago, Logan Square
11 Minneapolis, Station 4
13 Denver, Marquis
14 Salt Lake City, Murray Theatre
17 Vancouver, B.C., Richards on Richards
18 Seattle, El Corazon
19 Portland, Ore., Hawthorne Theatre
21 San Francisco, Slims
22 Pomona, Calif., Glasshouse
24 Los Angeles, Calif., Key Club
Guitarists Joe Duplantier and Christian Andreu can both be seen in the new Jackson: The Bloodline “dream book.” Duplantier is known for playing an SLS (super-lightweight Soloist™) model, while Andreu favors an RR1T Rhoads model.