- Using the term "live" doesn't offer capture what an artist does when they perform their own music in a club. Stuck behind gear, some audiences may not even understand that what's happening is all that different from a DJ set. Often "live" is as much a rhetorical and marketing exercise as it is a description of what is happening. There are plenty of exceptions, though. And dOP is assuredly one of them.
On July 30, the French trio made their debut appearance in South America, Brazil and more specifically in the club Vibe, located in Curitiba (a city located 400km south of Sao Paulo). Vibe is a traditional underground club in Brazil, in business for more than a decade now—even though it's just recently reopened after almost two years of renovations. It's a small club, and its greatest attraction consists of a large panel full of LED globes on the ceiling, but its vibrant crowd has impressed the likes of Marc Romboy and Oliver Huntemann who have been among the international stars that have performed there since its reopening.
Jonathan "JoJo" Illel plays bartender.
After a warm-up that lasted until 3 AM, dOP's show began with vocalist Jonathan "JoJo" Illel positioned on a small stage specially erected in the middle of the packed dance floor, while Clement Zemstov and Damien Vandesande immersed themselves in their traditional apparatus. The set had already barely begun, but Illel was already singing while walking through the club, coming eventually to the decks, climbing over them and standing shirtless, wearing only shorts, shoes, sunglasses and a cap. Not enough? Soon, he began to share bottles of vodka with those who dared to open their mouths under his sights.
Illel was a ringmaster for the evening. He invited people to dance with him while a special version of "Horny" played out, complete with their take on Brazilian folk music. After over two hours of this, the madness came to a close. It would be fair to say that in the specific case of dOP "live" can be simply be replaced by "show." Not for semantics and not for marketing: Just to be consistent with reality.