Friday 28/07/06 Day 1 @ Global Gathering

Officially the worlds biggest dance festival it’s unfortunate that Global Gathering couldn’t sort out the idiosyncrasies that would unanimously make it the greatest as well. With the camping in its infancy, the revamped setup was nice and compact but prohibited everything from the humble camping stove to the staple of any festival - alcohol.  The provision of an ‘onsite shop’ should have alleviated some ill feeling but with a warm crate of Carlsberg available at the premium rate of £35 it was the biggest alcohol sting since prohibition.  Nevertheless a line up of almost unparalleled quality put everything in its right place.

You’d be wrong in thinking Digitalism were another French duo in the mould of Daft Punk and Justice. Hailing from the ‘wrong’ side of the French-German border, the Hamburg pair churn up similarly sizzling electro rock rhythms that thump with the best of them. With a rock sensibility, Digitalism recent roster include stunning mixes of The Futureheads ‘Skip to the End’, The Presets ‘Down Down Down’ and Tom Vek’s ‘Nothing But Green Lights’ but in the evilly atmospheric ‘Jupiter Room’ and the scratching electro backbone and spiraling keyboard come down of ‘Zdarlight’ Digitalism are set to be kings of the crossover as well as the dance floor. 

Next up in the Friday night dream set up the rhythmically filthy Erol Alkan from whom Digitalism will have to wrest any crossover crown from. Alkan’s set is one of astoundingly smooth electro with an alternative edge. Prolific remixes of indie/rock bands include DFA 1979 and Franz Ferdinand with an ever growing backlog of groups salivating for an Erol re-rub.  Taking in influences as obtuse as Manic Street Preachers 'Holy Bible’ it shouldn’t be a surprise when Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Killing In The Name’ blasts out mid set but it’s still a welcome one.

A slight jigging of stage times sees Justice fill the pre Daft Punk hour as opposed to the post. Combining the smuttiest electro of the weekend with the kind of epic, organ breakdowns best reserved for The Exorcist soundtrack, ‘Waters of Nazareth’ takes on literal religious connotations whilst the French duo’s stock steadily rises once again along with the wave of anticipation of Daft Punk’s impending headline set.

8 years. 8 years? 8 ****ing years! They’re only a Euro star away!  It’s fitting that Daft Punk’s belated return to the live arena should take place on the biggest dance stage available as well as a custom built 3 ton pyramid raised platform and light set up.

Tonight Daft Punk don’t just perform, they transcend the "I was there" moment evolving it into the "I’ll always be there" moment and from here on in simply listening becomes impossibility.  Daft Punk are seminal, definitive and superlative. Not content to simply spin out the songs, they mix tracks with such seamless subtlety that you could be forgiven for forgetting the originals ever existed.  Not that you would ever want to. There’s the timeless ‘Da Funk’, the crispness of acclaimed classics like ‘Aerodynamic’, ‘One More Time’ and ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’ and an otherworldly mix of ‘Rollin & Scratchin’ that gatecrashes into ‘Prime Time of Your Life’ and ‘Alive’; straddling the bulk of the set with reverberations to rival the San Andreas Fault. Countless cameos from their extensive back catalogue are faded in and out like fond memories into a set that feels like it’s over in a heartbeat.  From the handclapping to the heart stopping Daft Punk show us what we’ve fervently been missing during their hiatus, climaxing in an audio visual ménage of an Epcot-esque picture montage, blazing lite brite display and a crashing remix of ‘Superheroes’, ‘ Human After All’ and ‘Rock 'n' Roll’.