Kickstarter

Greetings Backers! 

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I've been on hiatus for a bit with the craziness of November 2012 mostly behind me.  Since we last we left off, there was talk of a possible rescheduling of the Halloween parade after being cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy.  Unfortunately, like every other event that was scheduled that week in the immediate aftermath, the Halloween parade was officially cancelled without possibility of rescheduling.  Obviously we can't gripe about that considering that so many NY'ers were struggling to get their lives back in order.  We could only roll up our sleeves, help out, and focus on next year which, according to my 2013 Halloween Countdown Calendar is only 343 days away, so get pumped!  All decorations will have to be neatly packed away until then :)

Watching the festivities of the Macy's parade on TV while baking pies on a such a glorious fall day makes me remember that through all of this, there is one thing I I'm thankful for - our awesome party and performance!  I'm thrilled to share the footage of the performance at the Daft Punk Halloween Party, thanks to Jacob and Youngna (Wild Combination) for being the eyes behind the lens that night. It's pretty awesome to see the full buildout of the performance. And hey, split screen! Double the pleasure, double the Daft!

So without further adieu,

Daft Punk Halloween Party Performance // October 28, 2012 - 12AM

One more note about rewards...  I'm talking with printing places to get the rewards to all you lovely people who are due calendars and postcards.  Expect an email from me to gather mailing addresses and information regarding fulfillment in the next couple of days.  Time now to fulfill my belly with some turkey!  

SlagHammer

Hello Backers,

Happy Halloween Eve! The last 24 hours in the northeast has been chaos as I'm sure you've all experienced or heard. As a resident of lower Manhattan I lost power at around 8:30 last night and have relocated to Brooklyn to even get a sense of what is going on with the recovery from the storm and communicate with the organizers of tomorrow's Village Halloween Parade. The news all around didn't look good this morning and I've just received confirmation that the village parade will NOT be held this year. From the official website:

http://www.halloween-nyc.com/

From Gothamist:

http://gothamist.com/2012/10/30/park_slope_halloween_parade_cancell.php

Talk of rescheduling is in the air, but its in the hands of the NYPD at this point and their hands are certainly full with the recovery effort. I hope everyone is safe and well and that we return to normalcy soon enough. To the divert the NYPD resources required for the parade from the larger task at hand would be unwise and I completely understand the decision.

The hurricane took us all by surprise as it wasn't until after Saturday night's party that I received word of how severe the storm would be. I was so busy with our setup the entire day that I didn't even take a peek at the forecast. Which brings me to the other thing I need to tell you about:

Our Daft Punk Halloween Party!

The costumes! The music! The lights! The performance! Everything all came together beautifully! Everyone loved it!  

We had to fight through the dense crowd on the dancefloor already amped by DJ Hohme's set to make room for the performers who took stage at the height of the party. We let loose on our dance creation backed by the full spectrum light show controlled by Max Henstell of Hack Rock City. To see it all together was seriously a dream come true. We will release video of the performance in he next several days and hope that the memory of that one bright moment will suffice for an endpoint to the project.  But for now, check out the Photo Flipbook video!

I have yet to decide what to do about the cancellation of the parade, but I hope that all the backers understand how these unforeseen circumstances have limited the scope of the project. Maybe we'll try again next year!? For all those who did see it at the party, I'd love to gather pics from the party and put them online for all to see. Email me at daftpunkhalloween@gmail.com, I'd love to hear from you!

Best to you all and be safe.

Yours,

Dustin AKA Slag Hammer

We've been asked a lot of questions about the party and it's SOLD OUT status - here's the skinny:

Q: ZOMG! The party is sold out?
A: Yes! It's going to be epic!

Q: Do you think I can get a ticket at the door?
A: At this point, we are super sold out, so likely not, unfortunately! Keep checking our Facebook Party Page to see if others are selling a ticket beforehand, or post a message saying that you are looking.

Q: I donated to the Kickstarter campaign and opted to get a ticket - what do I need to do to get into the party?
A: The name you put on your Kickstarter donation is the name that will be on the list at the door. You'll need your ID to get in and you'll be set. You might be contacted if there is a question about your name.

A note on party tickets according to reward levels:

If you opted for the $30 reward, you get ONE ticket to the party.
If you opted for the $60 reward, you get ONE ticket to the party.
If you opted for the $100 reward, you get FOUR tickets to the party.
If you opted for the $150 reward, you get TWO tickets to the party.
If you opted for the $500 reward, you get TWO ticket to the party.

Q: I donated and have more than 1 ticket to the party - what do I need to get my homies into the party?
A: The name you put on your Kickstarter donation is the name that will be on the list at the door. You'll need your ID to get in and your friends present and you'll be set.

Q: I donated and have a ticket, but now I can't go. Sad face. What should I do?
A: Post on our Facebook Event Page that you have a ticket you'd like to trade/sell and see if you can't get a taker (we know there are a lot of folks looking). Then, email Didi (didibethurum at gmail dot com) with the name you'd like to swap on the list. The person who originally donated to Kickstarter will need to send the email.

If you opted for more than 1 ticket and have an extra, post on the Facebook Event Page  and arrange for the new ticket holder to meet you at the door. You can only get in when you are together.

Q: I sold / traded my ticket and need to change the name on the guest list.  What do I do?
A:  Email Didi (didibethurum at gmail dot com) with the name you'd like to swap on the list. The person who originally donated to Kickstarter will need to send the email.

Q: What if I don't get into the party!?
A: There's still more Daft Punk in store for you! Head down to the NYC Halloween Parade on the evening of October 31st and join the thousands of humans watching the world's first Daft Punk Tribute Float rock up 6th avenue. Can't wait to see you there!

Q: How excited am I for this?!
A: Very excited! But not as excited as we are. :)

Thanks all! See you at the party, the parade, and hopefully BOTH!

Less than a week left to gather your costumes for our SOLD OUT Halloween Party!  That's right, we've just reached capacity and sold out all of the presale tickets and no tickets will be sold at the door.   

A note on party tickets according to reward levels:  

• If you opted for the $30 reward, you get ONE ticket to the party. 
• If you opted for the $60 reward, you get ONE ticket to the party.
• If you opted for the $100 reward, you get FOUR tickets to the party.
• If you opted for the $150 reward, you get TWO tickets to the party.
• If you opted for the $500 reward, you get TWO ticket to the party.

There is no physical ticket, just a will call list at the door with +1 or +3 depending on reward levels. 

The performance will be set for 12AM midnight.  A complimentary drink ticket will be provided with entry.  So please arrive early, hang out, and enjoy what is sure to be a great show!  

Thanks and see everyone there!!

--Dustin AKA Slag Hammer

Hey Backers!

It's been a FULL week of pushing ahead with the momentum gained from reaching and exceeding our fundraising goal! I have so much to tell you, I don't even know where to begin! All I know is, we have an incredible show for all who are coming to the party at Windmill Studios on October 27th! We have sold out our portion of the tickets but they are still available for purchase through Windmill Studios. Buy them now, because they're sure to sell out. Tell all your friends! Follow the link! We take stage around midnight, so also make sure you've got a good spot!

We had an extremely productive night of stringing the LED strips to the "light rails" that I've fabricated to go on the sides of the float. Each piece is a massive 25' in length and had to be assembled in pieces just to fit through the door!

The talented programmers Mat Metts and Max Henstell from Hack Rock City have been an amazing resource for pulling off a pretty close replica to the stage design on the 1997 Alive tour.

Each of the strips are has an extremely bright LED spaced one every inch and can display any RGB color and can be programmed to any number of different effects. The script will be sent through a control box which will be connected to a laptop and a MIDI controller, so we'll be able to "play" along to the track. How cool is that!? Once we get this going, we'll add the pyramid which will also be lined with LEDs along the base, which is looking like this:

Now the fun part begins of orchestrating the light display to the music so the dancers will have a incredible backdrop to the performance. This is gonna be a night to remember! I can't wait to see you all there!!

Enjoy the video of us geeking out to our blinky light display! And thanks for your support, look what you've made come ALIVE!! Special thanks to Phillip Kim for being my right robot hand on the fabrication end.  As you can see, I'm in GREAT company.

Dustin AKA Slag Hammer