For the last few days, a video has circulated featuring acclaimed saxophonist/producer GRiZ with two gentlemen who appeared to be Daft Punk. Taking place at Burning Man, some fans bought into the hype while others rolled their eyes and said, “not this rumor again…”
Here’s the video that was shared by GRiZ, serving to fuel the fires of humorous rumors. For the record, the video has over 1 million views!
For the past few years, a rumor about a secret Burning Man Daft Punk performance has permeated through social media. It makes sense, as Burning Man is a sprawling locale and Daft Punk shroud everything they do in mystery. Still, it seemed very unlikely that Daft Punk played at Burning Man. Fortunately, Billboard shed some light on the situation.
As it turns out, it was a man by the name of Tucker Gumber (aka The Festival Guy) who set the whole thing up. Gumber had witnessed one of the very first fake Daft Punk performances at Burning Man, and, eager to be in on the joke, he financed some particularly realistic looking costumes for the illusion of a true Daft Punk performance. Gumber then recruited Canadian duo Funk Hunters, who talk enthusiastically about the fake set in a new Billboard feature.
Says Nick Middleton of Funk Hunters, “This has been Tucker’s dream forever and as a massive Daft Punk fan I couldn’t think of anything cooler than actually getting to BE daft punk for an hour!” Eyes rolled.
Regardless, by all accounts the collaboration between The Funk Hunters and GRiZ was certainly a memorable one. Fortunately, there’s a full audio stream of the set, for anyone interested in pretending they’re listening to Daft Punk.