Daft Punk has only toured twice — once in 1997 and once 2007. So when there’s any chance that the robots could be booking new shows, fans typically freak out. It should be no surprise that when the mysterious website Alive2017.com popped up this week, fans freaked out.
Image: Getty
Before we begin to decode this hidden messages found on the website, let’s start with the facts. As you may already know, “Alive” was the name given to both Daft Punk world tours, the second of which became its own full-length album, Alive 2007. Although the mysterious website appears to display only the word “ALIVE” in big letters, beneath the surface, there’s much more going on.
Image: Alive2017.com
The first thing you’ll probably notice when you visit the mysterious site is that there’s a timer hidden beneath the I in the Alive when you zoom in (try it using pinch to zoom). The timer is apparently counting down to 27 October 2016. Here’s a screenshot:
It’s unclear if that date has any significance at all, but fans believe it’s when Daft Punk will formally announce the tour.
So, I know what you’re thinking: One stupid website and a countdown timer does not mean that a Daft Punk world tour is imminent. But there are more apparent details about the tour hidden in the source code of the website. There’s even a block of code that appears to give fans clues about the cities where the robots will be playing:
CONTACT CONFIRMED
PRINT TRANSMISSION
48 51 24 2 21 03
34 03 118 15
51 30 26 N 0 7 39
40 7128 74 0059
35 6895 139 6917
23 5505 46 6333
39 0200 1 4821
33 7206 116 2156
TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED
…LISTENING…
…LISTENING…
NO SIGNAL DETECTED. RETRY IN 10s…
RETRY IN 9s…
RETRY IN 8s…
RETRY IN 7s…
RETRY IN 6s…
RETRY IN 5s…
RETRY IN 4s…
RETRY IN 3s…
RETRY IN 2s…
RETRY IN 1s…
SIGNAL DETECTED…CONNECTING
CONTACT CONFIRMED
PRINT TRANSMISSION
RA 0h 42m 44s Dec 41 16 9
TRANSMISSION TERMINATED REMOTELY
…LISTENING…
SIGNAL DETECTED…CONNECTING
CONTACT CONFIRMED
PRINT TRANSMISSION
“ALIVE”
TRANSMISSION TERMINATED REMOTELY
…LISTENING…
…LISTENING…
NO SIGNAL DETECTED. RETRY IN 10s…
RETRY IN 9s…
RETRY IN 8s…
RETRY IN 7s…
RETRY IN 6s…
RETRY IN 5s…
RETRY IN 4s…
RETRY IN 3s…
RETRY IN 2s…
RETRY IN 1s…
NO SIGNAL DETECTED.
START SLEEP ROUTINE
WAKE DATE 2016-10-27
//SHEP LOGGED OUT
Does the cipher mean anything to you? No? Then you’re probably not much of a Daft Punk fan, because any true fan can tell you that Shep is a character from Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, an animated movie created to the tune of the band’s second studio album Discovery. Shep’s name appears in plain text in the last line of code.
But what about those numbers?. Reddit user DaftSteve decoded the string of numbers at the top of the transmission and determined the numbers represent the longitude and latitude coordinates of major cities around the world. For example “48 51 24 2 21 03” is Paris. You can also confirm this for yourself with a simple Google search. Here’s the full list of decoded coordinates included in the hidden message.
48 51 24 2 21 03 = PARIS (FRANCE)
34 03 118 15 = LOS ANGELES (UNITED STATES)
51 30 26 N 0 7 39 = LONDON (ENGLAND)
40 7128 74 0059 = NEW YORK (UNITED STATES)
35 6895 139 6917 = TOKYO (JAPAN)
23 5505 46 6333 = SAO PAULO (BRAZIL)
39 0200 1 4821 = IBIZA (SPAIN)
33 7206 116 2156 = INDIO/PALM SPRINGS (UNITED STATES)
You think that’s it? Not even close. The final entry indicates that the band would be playing Coachella 2017 in Indio, California, which would take place during one the festivals weeks of April 14-16 or April 21-23. (It was also at Coachella where Daft Punk revealed the legendary pyramid stage setup in 2006.) After that, there’s a weird line that says, “RA 0h 42m 44s Dec 41 16 9,” an apparent code with hours, minutes and seconds. We’re not really sure what that part means.
Luckily, the secret message lists very plainly that the “wake date” is on 27 October 2016, so we don’t have to wait much longer to find out what the hell is going on here. We can only hope our favourite robots are preparing for a third world tour. But for now, the group’s classic house tracks will have to do.