Dance 2017 (album)

***Dance 2017*** is a live album released by Justice in 2017. It features live songs from their performance at Congrès in Paris, France, on their Dance 2017 tour.

A live version of "Audio, Video, Disco", containing elements of "Heavy Metal x Horsepower" and "Waters of Nazareth x Audio, Video, Disco".

The physical release in North America was delayed to December 5 due to production issues, but the album became available as a digital download on November 21, 2017.A special edition of the album was released that includes the encore from the *Dance 2017* tour on a second disc, which is included on the digital copy as well. It also includes a 50-page book containing photographs from the tour taken by Mr. Oizo.

## Structure

The *Dance 2017* set used Apple MacBook Pro with Ableton Live software for the show. Justice accessed the synthesizers with Korg ARP Odyssey and Moog Minimoog Voyager within the central pyramid. JazzMutant Lemur controller were also implemented for the live performances. The DJ mixer and controller with Pioneer DJM-800 and CDJ-2000. The majority of the equipment was stored away during the live sets within offstage towers.

The recording of *Dance 2017* was derived from Justice's live performance at their Congrès show on June 15, 2017. Reviews of the set noted how Justice manipulated and reworked their established material. One report spotted vocal elements from the song "New Lands" mixed with newly-generated accompaniment. The overlapped mixtures of "Heavy Metal" with "Horsepower", "Waters of Nazareth" with "Audio, Video, Disco" and "Parade" with "Chorus" were reported to be well received by the audience. The set itself was considered a collection of Justice's most popular recordings. The performances heavily featured tracks from Justice's album *Woman*, prompting critics to reconsider what they felt about the album.

The visuals of the 2016 and Dance 2017 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 the 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."

The performances for the Dance 2017 tour were an expansion of Justice's 2016 live sets. Noted additions include elements of the tracks "Stress" and "Let There Be Light" as well as an encore. Augé explained that the 2016 sets were initially designed for performances within larger festivals, but later refined to accommodate Justice-specific shows. "The goal was to try and bring a complete global experience to the audience". The introduction for the live show featured the five-note sequence used in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".

The album includes elements of the Claudio Simonetti song "Tenebre", the original version of which was sampled of "Alakazam !". Also featured are elements of Klaxons's "As Above, So Below", the original version of which was remixed by Justice for her single. The encore of the Dance 2017 set features Augé's side projects: Neptune's "If You Have Any Other" and Musique's self-titled track "Musique".

## Reception

Dance 2017 was generally met with praise upon release. Pitchfork Media regarded the recording as "the Ultimate Justice Mixtape", specifically noting how songs from the album *Woman* had been "constantly improved and born anew" for the live set. The sentiment was also shared by Allmusic, stating that "It has the feel of a greatest-hits-live concert, but energized by Justice's talents at weaving songs in and out of each other". The publication ultimately considered Dance 2007 the stronger of their two live albums, however. A review by The Star noted that the release and Justice's concurrent tours cumulatively restored the duo's reputation following the mixed reception of their two earlier studio albums.

Sputnikmusic stated that the Dance 2017 performance was closer to a theatrical production than a traditional concert, and that the album "could just as easily be a studio concoction". Entertainment Weekly, however, felt that the live crowd enhanced the positive mood of the performance. Rolling Stone stated that Dance 2017 "loses some of the essential experience" of attending the live Justice events. The Phoenix also felt that the album package would have benefited from more video content, expressing that a key factor of the live show was its implementation of visual elements. In his first positive review for a Justice album, Robert Christgau believed that a full video representation was avoided because "too much scale, flesh and bodily effluvia would be lost". Gaspard Augé expressed his reasons for not releasing a DVD by stating "the thousands of clips on the internet are better to us than any DVD that could have been released".