One More Time (A Tribute To Daft Punk)

In 2010, Ben Linsenmeyer and Ron Diep were booked to play a college Halloween party. As two DJs who came of age during the French electro renaissance, they thought it would be both funny and poignant to tackle the gig in full Daft Punk regalia. So, decked out in silver android helmets and silicon suits, the Phoenix, Arizona duo took the stage with a rudimentary wooden pyramid evoking Daft Punk’s iconic 2006-2007 world tour.

Eight years later, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter remain in self-imposed exile from the touring circuit, and Linsenmeyer and Diep’s Daft Punk tribute act, One More Time, is thriving. That one-off Halloween set has blossomed into a legitimate touring business in which the Arizona DJs imitate the French robots the best they can, using a setlist based on the live album Alive 2007 and a production team that approximates the architecture of Daft Punk’s final tour to date. That dedication has powered world tours – including headlining gigs at New York’s Brooklyn Bowl and Los Angeles’ Regent Theater – and delightfully uncanny in-costume photoshoots with the real Deadmau5. Like it or not, One More Time may very well be the closest you’re going to get to an authentic Daft Punk concert experience in this lifetime.

-Luke Winkie Rolling Stone