Are they really not going to be here? Fans surprised at Daft Punk no-show Daft Punk goes bush Though Daft Punk failed to show at their new album 'launch', fans who descended on tiny Wee Waa for the show weren't too disappointed. With footage supplied by Sony Music Entertainment / Columbia Records How do you get away with holding a much-hyped global album launch party in a location so unlikely that the world's media sits up and takes notice - and get away with not showing up? Many fans we spoke to just prior to Daft Punk's hugely-hyped Random Access Memories album launch in Wee Waa on Friday night had convinced themselves the French house musicians, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, were foxing and would make an appearance. "I don't think they will let their fans down... they choose Wee Waa for a purpose... they must be there," said French fan Aurelien Coursodon, who travelled from Brisbane. Daft Punk: The pair thought launching their new album in Wee Waa was "a poetic idea" but attendance wasn't necessary. "Are they really not going to be here?" asked Kerri Taylor, who flew from Melbourne to Canberra then drove up. I'm from a town... with about the same size population as Wee Waa and they don't [construct] a custom-built sound-set for a band that's not going to turn up. I'm just saying! Anne Fuller, co-owner of the Wee Waa Welcome Inn motel, said fans were "taking bets. We've had people say there's a 50:50 chance that they may turn up anyway," but she said the town knew full well "it was never promoted as a [live] concert." Shouldn't people turn up for their big moment? After all, Sony's marketing campaign propelled Daft Punk to number one around the world - their last album, Human After All, was a comparative flop. Fuller noted that Daft Punk were probably the most famous people to not make it to Wee Waa. The launch of Daft Punk's Random Access Memories in Wee Waa. Photo: Joshua J Smith Two visiting fans, Danielle O'Keefe, 24, and Jasmine Jesbeg, 23, got everyone briefly excited by turning up in custom-made hand-to-toe white Daft Punk outfits, complete with space-age helmets (cost: a cool $1000 each). "We're mad about Daft Punk," said Danielle. I won't be disappointed if they don't make it - it'll be a good party. Maybe Daft Punk feared not getting past security, as Nicky Minaj failed to do when she turned up at the launch party for her album, The Re-Up, in New York in November. Mind you, she did have 25 people with her and it was 3.30am. But in the end, Daft Punk didn't make it. If you are going to do a no-show, it certainly helps if your backers have the means to put on a party that multi-national Sony does. On Friday night, the world's second-largest record label threw a three-hour bash that die-hard Daft Punk fans and the tiny Northern NSW cotton-producing town would never forget. The centre of the Wee Waa Showground, which earlier hosted Wee Waa Showgirl and a dog high jump competition (congratulations Emma Swansbra and Keith Duncan for Tim the Wolfhound's athleticism), was turned into a dazzling under-lit circular dancefloor, ringed by 16 skyward-facing spotlights and four giant speaker stacks. Around 1500 people - most of whom had driven from Sydney - obliged and piled onto the huge dancefloor, grooving, jumping, mincing it up for group photos or just milling about. Many were in typical music festival clobber: animal suits, indian headresses and of course Daft Punk robot helmets. The town itself got into the spirit of things too: the local butcher put "Daft Pork" sausages in his window, the hot bread shop renamed its cheese and bacon pie a "punk pie." Dozens of locals were at the event too, hopping onto the futuristic dancefloor, or just wandering around it. A beaming 80-year-old Clive Richardson thought the bash was "alright, as long as we don't get a bill later." A delighted Narrabri Shire mayor Conrad Bolton was confident there wouldn't be a bill, in fact the opposite. All the accommodation is maxed out, the service clubs are selling are steaks and 'Random Access Rissoles' and 'techno treats'. There's people contacting our tourist information centre finding out what they can do for the weekend so they're going to hang around. The attention brought to a regional area [is amazing]. He said when the launch party was announced, the Narrabri Shire's website had 1.8 million hits in four days - compared to the 600,000 in a normal year.