Over the last few days the internet has been set ablaze with rumors that the special guest at Ultra 20 could be Daft Punk. Most of this comes from a relatively circumstantial evidence that well…is a bit of a stretch. That being said, there is no bigger fan of Daft Punk than myself. I am currently writing this article on a desk which is set up like a shrine to the legendary French virtuosos. I say that because trust me I want to believe. But there is one massive reasons that Daft Punk will not be an unannounced special guest at Ultra.
Pure Chaos
I came across this theory on /r/umf and honestly it broke my heart how right the Redditor was; Daft Punk could never be an unannounced special guest at Ultra 20. It would just be too damn dangerous. Imagine 50,000+ attendees rush to the main stage when Daft Punk is announced out of the blue. People would not only get hurt, many could possibly even die in the stampede that would occur.
Ultra Music Festival takes place at Bay Front Park, which is not exactly an enormous venue. It is definitely sizable but no stage has anywhere near the space to accommodate the entire festival's attendance. Daft Punk is not like Swedish House Mafia. They are at a different, almost deity level, for electronic music fans. If Swedish House Mafia played, things would get insanely packed, but there would still be a decent amount of people who would not care that much. If Daft Punk played every person in and outside of Ultra would push and rush to witness the historic set. There is simply no one they could put up against Daft Punk that could draw a crowd more than a few dozen.
Facing the Facts
Daft Punk also is unaffected by money at this point in their career. In years past Coachella has confirmed they attempted to book the robots, but they turned down every (unimaginably massive) sums of money thrown their way. It is unrealistic that Ultra, a festival which does not share Daft Punk's latest aesthetic could push Guy and Thomas back into the industry limelight.
Between the reality of Daft Punk no longer accepting bookings, and the safety concerns an unannounced performance would cause Daft Punk will almost definitely not be at Ultra 2018…even as much as I want to believe otherwise, it is not feasible. The only way they could pull this off is by announcing the artists before hand. And if they were to do that, why not do it during open ticket sales as that announcement would cause tickets to sell out instantly?
We can all hope, but the reality of the situation is a little too obvious to ignore. But that is not stopping me from hoping.
