“People expect Daft Punk to come back to life, but they’re gone”: Thomas Mars on his Olympics supergroup and why Daft Punk didn’t joinFrench rockers Phoenix took over the Paris 2024 Olympic Games closing ceremony in style, bringing on fellow indie acts Vampire Weekend, Air, and Kavinsky, making it the ultimate Millennial jam fest.
In a recent interview with Vulture, frontman Thomas Mars opens up about the ceremony’s supergroup and whether Daft Punk were ever on the Olympic cards.

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“Air was the first band we thought of,” he says. “When we started playing music outside of France, like at Top of the Pops, we were their backing band. We wanted to share that with them and perform our song Playground Love. Kavinsky has a song called Nightcall, which was produced by Daft Punk, and he asked me to sing it at the time. I never do things outside of Phoenix, so I said no and didn’t regret it.”
He continues, “I thought the song was perfect and didn’t need my voice. It’s such a classic and fits so well in this condensed mix of songs, so I really wanted to incorporate it. For French people, there’s something that happened about ten years ago that proved to be an influence.”
Inspired by a fake poster that went viral, the musician wanted to bring some magic to the stage. “Someone created a fake poster for a French music festival that never happened. It was like: Daft Punk, us, Air, Kavinsky, Cassius, all of these bands,” he says. “People thought it was a real show, so there was high demand for it but it never happened. We wanted that poster to come to life.”
As for bringing a Daft Punk back from retirement, Mars shuts down that as a possibility.
“Daft Punk doesn’t exist anymore. That was never an option. People expect them to come back to life, but they’re gone. There were a few bucket-list people that I really admired and wanted to join us, but I’m not sure I want to mention them, because it’s going to disappoint people,” he says.
“They’ll be like, ‘Oh, I wish that would’ve happened’. But it turned out to be a great and strange mix of people, which is what we’ve been doing all of these years. We took a group photo and it’s so unusual,” he continues. “Only in this context would these people come together. That’s the main thing we’re all proud of.”
Daft Punk or not, Phoenix had plenty on their hands. While Vampire Weekend, Air, and Kavinsky made an unforgettable line-up, Mars opened up about the dangers that could have thrown the show off course: “They thought of putting us on the rooftop of the Louvre for a performance. We recorded our last album, Alpha Zulu, in the Louvre. There were bees on the roof. People were concerned about the bees. There were a lot of hives to harvest honey. These are the things you don’t know about Paris.”
The musician adds, “There were a lot of hurdles for the people who organised it. French people are extremely relieved that everything went great. There was definitely a climate of fear going into the elections and the Games. But I think people really enjoyed them, and there was a sense of appreciation.”
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