For almost every fan of electronic music, having the chance to see Daft Punk perform live is holding down a top spot on their bucket list. Unfortunately for those who have become fans in the past few years, there hasn’t been any opportunity to see the elusive French duo grace a stage, venue, or festival.
Daft Punk has been one of my favorite acts, from any genre of music, since I first saw them live at Shampoo Nightclub back in 1997. I was sitting against a speaker box when they dropped their recent (at the time) track “Da Funk”. I was hooked.
For the next decade I dreamed of seeing them perform again. I bought every one of their album. I scoured through crates and bought unreleased remixes on vinyl in tiny record stores in London, England. I waited, and waited, and waited.
Finally, in 2007, I was able to see Daft Punk two more times on their “Alive” tour. The shows, at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn and the Vegoose Festival in Las Vegas, are still two of the greatest experiences of my life.
Since that time there have been many rumors of new albums, new tours, and new appearances. All have proven to be just that, rumors. The most recent report (within the past week) has them signing a new deal with Sony and releasing a new album this Spring.
In other genres of music, most notably Rock, tribute (or cover) bands are a long standing tradition. Tribute bands for Bruce Springsteen, The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, and countless others have become so popular that they sell out shows themselves. Some tribute bands go so far as to recreate specific shows of the the original band using the exact same set-list. These bands often so successful because fans aren’t able to see the original band because they have broken up, members have passed away, or they just don’t tour anymore.
If you think about it, almost every DJ set is a tribute to numerous other producers/DJs as the performer is playing other producers music (often adding their own flavor to it). Being that Daft Punk hasn’t toured in over five years, it isn’t at all surprising that a Daft Punk tribute act, One More Time, has stepped in to fill the void. One More Time replicates the pyramid stage set, chrome helmets, and light up jump-suits from the “Alive” tour.
On Saturday, January 26th, they headlined a show at the Theater of the Living Arts. The event, presented by Steez Promo, also featured opening DJ sets by Deep C, Speaker For the Dead, and Nysus.
After all of the openers had thoroughly warmed up the crowd, One More Time hit the stage just before 12:30am to a roar of cheers. For the next 75 minutes they dropped Daft Punk anthems infused with their own remixes. It might not have been the real deal, but it was damn near close. As a Daft Punk addict I’d been jonesing for this for half a decade and while it might not have been a pure dose, it was certainly enough for a solid fix. The crowd was not as big as I’d anticipated it would be but everyone there was robot rockin’ out hard.
When the show ended, I hoped they would return one more time, for one more song. Alas, the set was over, and I was forced to return to Daft Punk limbo, praying that this Spring will play host to a new album, and a long awaited tour. In the meantime, I would be happy to see One More Time, several more times.
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You can watch video of the show, and check out additional photos below (click thumbnails to enlarge):
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