Yes, Gojira’s Olympics performance was great, but we couldn’t help but notice – has Joe Duplantier swapped guitar companies?
Gojira‘s stunning performance at the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony on Friday (July 26) made headlines for all the right reasons. It offered a rare chance for metal to be showcased on a global stage, the theatrics – including fire, red streamers and a singing, headless Marie Antoinette – were awe-inspiring.
READ MORE: Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier on activism, metal purists and sweating the small stuff
Performing at La Conciergerie – a palace and former prison on the River Seine – Gojira played French Revolution-era song Ah! Ça Ira alongside experimental opera singer Marina Viotti as part of a segment celebrating a landmark moment in the country’s history.
Not only did they become the first metal band to be featured in an Olympics opening ceremony, they also made the French Revolution look metal AF (which, let’s be honest, it was). It wasn’t lost on frontman Joe Duplantier, telling The New York Times: “It was a very bloody era of French history, so it was very metal.”
If theatrics aren’t your thing, Gojira’s performance still hinted at some fascinating developments where their guitars are concerned. Duplantier has been a Charvel signature artist, but the instrument he was playing on Friday was certainly not a Charvel.
Instead, he was playing an offset Jazzmaster-style guitar that seems to have been made by ESP. Interestingly, the manufacturer shared a photo of the shiny gunmetal-coloured guitar on their Instagram story.
Joe’s Olympics show guitar made by ESP byu/mts21fin ingojira
As you can see, the spectacular shine comes from a unique mirrored finish, but from a technical perspective it’s a far cry from the usual guitars Duplantier tends to favour. It only has one humbucker and an Evertune bridge, a relatively new invention from ESP, while its body shape and reverse headstock is also rather different from guitars he has previously played.
The question remains – is this just a one-off, or does this mean he’s left Charvel in favour of ESP? If he has, is this a new signature model?
In addition, fellow guitarist Christian Andreu had a new guitar too, using a new version of his Jackson signature.
Little more information is available at this time, but if it does herald the coming of a new ESP signature guitar for Duplantier, there’s scarcely a better time or place to unveil it than the Olympics opening ceremony for the world to see. We’ll keep you updated as we know more.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
