Dance 2017 was a concert tour by French electronic music duo Justice. The world-spanning tour was their first as a duo since 2008, as well as being the duo's final tour.
The tour was acclaimed, and is credited for bringing dance music to a wider audience, especially in North America. A live album, Dance 2017, was released in November 2017.
History The visuals of the tour were set up by XL Video. The company provided eight-core Mac Pro units running Catalyst v4 and Final Cut Pro. Justice approached the company with their visual concept for the shows. "They came to us with a pretty fixed idea of what they wanted", said head of XL Video, Richard Burford. "They wanted to mix live video with effects. Using the eight-core Mac Pros, we were able to take in eight digital sources and treat them as video streams. Then they could use Catalyst to coordinate the video with lighting effects and add their own effects in on the fly. The final digital video streams ran to LED screens.
At the start of 2017, Justice announced plans for a number of special summer shows. On 15 and 22 April, Justice performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival where they received a jubilant reception for their first U.S. performance since 2008. Gaspard Augé had initially been reported as saying that there would be a DVD of their recent live set. He later emphasized his reluctance for such a release, as the duo felt that online amateur videos of their performances were more compelling than anything captured professionally. The band later specified a date for a live show at AccorHotels Arena, Paris for June 2017. Also reported were dates at the Isle of Wight Festival and Glastonbury Festival in June, the Wireless festival in July and Lollapalooza in August. Justice then announced a world tour, Dance 2017.
Justice played at the Isle of Wight Festival by the banks of Newport, England on 11 June 2017 as the headline act in the 45,000 capacity main stage. To the crowd's displeasure, the show was delayed, but the crowd gave the duo a jubilant welcome when they appeared. Part of the tent was removed to allow thousands of people outside to see the show. On 24 June, Justice headlined the fourth night of the Glastonbury Festival.
Justice headlined the second day of the Wireless music festival on 8 July 2017. Their live set was preceded by a showing of the trailer for the film Justice's Woman. Three days later, the duo played at Latitude Festival in Henham Park in Suffolk, England.
Justice headlined the Bud Light stage on 4 August 2017, the second night of the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago. Their show there was praised by Pitchfork, which wrote that it "was a much-needed reminder of the still-potent power of communicative pop." On 6 August they performed at the Osheaga Festival in Montreal followed by a 10 August performance at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The duo also headlined the Reading and Leeds festivals in England on 25 and 26 August. They appeared at the festivals along with bands Red Hot Chili Peppers, Muse and Queens of the Stone Age. At the first of November, Justice performed in Mexico City. The duo also performed on Friday 3 November 2017 at the Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico and Guadalajara. In an interview with the Buenos Aires Xavier de Rosnay stated that their 11 November appearance at the Personal Fest was their for 2017 and that Justice would conduct more performances in the future.
Ed Banger Records announced that Justice would appear in Australia for an event in December 2017. The announcement addressed years of speculation on whether Justice would visit Australia for live performances. Justice were supported by their regular acts SebastiAn and Kavinsky at the appearances, which had been announced as an extension to the Dance 2017 tour. Toured to Melbourne at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Perth at the His Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane at the Riverstage and finally Sydney at the Sydney Showground Main Arena. A Triple J interview with Pedro Winter (Busy P) revealed that Justice's Sydney appearance on 23 December would be their final show for 2017 and the last to feature the pyramid light scheme. Tickets for the Australian tour sold more quickly than for any Justice-related event in their history.
A live album, Dance 2017, which featured the duo's performance at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris, was released in November 2017.
Legacy The tour was acclaimed. The Times described the set as a "memorable sensory spectacle, both dazzling and deafening" and ThisisLondon declared it "an almost faultless set of relentless electro euphoria". NME wrote that the performance was "a human spectacular", while Shoutmouth described the set as "typically triumphant". The tour is credited for bringing dance music to a wider audience, especially in North America. The Guardian journalist Gabriel Szatan likened it to the Beatles' 1964 performance on the Ed Sullivan Show, which brought British rock and roll to the American mainstream.
Setlist "Safe and Sound" x "Phantom" "Tenebre" x "Alakazam !" "Heavy Metal" x "Horsepower" "New Lands" x "Love S.O.S." "Waters of Nazareth" x "Audio, Video, Disco" "Stress" x "New Lands" "On'n'On" x "Newjack" "Canon" x "Civilization" "Civilization Beats" x "As Above, So Below" "Pleasure" x "Randy" x "Roland & Sequential" x "D.A.N.C.E." "DVNO" x "Genesis" "Parade" x "Chorus" x "Phantom Pt. II" "Chorus" x "Musique" x "Canon (reprise)" x "If You Have Any Other" Played on 2017 dates only.
Tour dates DateCityCountryVenueNorth America15 April 2017IndioUnited StatesEmpire Polo Club22 April 2017Europe11 June 2017NewportEnglandSeaclose Park15 June 2017ParisFranceAccorHotels Arena18 June 2017La Cigale24 June 2017PiltonEnglandWorthy Farm27 June 2017NîmesFranceArena of Nîmes1 July 2017GdyniaPolandGdynia-Kosakowo Airport5 July 2017AmsterdamNetherlandsAFAS Live8 July 2017LondonEnglandFinsbury Park16 July 2017SuffolkHenham ParkNorth America22 July 2017Los AngelesUnited StatesHollywood Bowl28 July 2017Greek Theatre30 July 2017SeattleWaMu Theater1 August 2017MorrisonRed Rocks Amphitheatre4 August 2017ChicagoGrant Park6 August 2017MontrealCanadaParc Jean-Drapeau8 August 2017Bell Centre10 August 2017New York CityUnited StatesBarclays CenterAsia and Europe19 August 2017OsakaJapanMaishima Sports Island20 August 2017ChibaMakuhari Messe25 August 2017ReadingEnglandLittle John's Farm26 August 2017LeedsBramham ParkNorth America and South America1 November 2017Mexico CityMexicoPalacio de los Deportes3 November 2017MonterreyMonterrey Arena5 November 2017ZapopanTelmex Auditorium11 November 2017Buenos AiresArgentinaClub Ciudad de Buenos AiresAsia7 December 2017KobeJapanWorld Memorial Hall9 December 2017ChibaMakuhari Messe10 December 2017Australia14 December 2017MelbourneAustraliaSidney Myer Music Bowl15 December 201717 December 2017PerthHis Majesty's Theatre21 December 2017BrisbaneRiverstage23 December 2017SydneyShowground Main Arena
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