We all remember deadmau5‘s controversial rant, We All Press Play, in which he claimed, “David Guetta has two iPods and a mixer and he just plays tracks.” This is a sentiment that is shared by many, typically those more deeply involved with the scene. That hasn’t stopped thousands from coming to see Guetta‘s shows across the globe though, including a headlining spot at this year’s Electric Zoo festival among many others. In a recent interview with Vibe, he chimed in on the deadmau5 comment and the sentiment of his doubters:
“The big DJs start by being bedroom producers and they have a hit and suddenly start playing in front of thousands of people. But the way I did it was by working six nights, playing eight hours sets every night. I’ve learned a lot about how to communicate with the crowd, so when my music crossed over that stayed. The connection with the people is what makes the difference for me.” 
Adding:
“When I perform, everything you hear is me playing my own music. You’ll hear unreleased music; every record I play, I will edit and use parts of another record to make it unique. I’m not gonna play what you hear on the radio.”
Now, I don’t doubt that Guetta has paid his dues as a DJ or that he did not come up the hard way, but having personally caught part of one of his performances earlier this year I can’t say he isn’t telling the truth. I remember the moment vividly that contradicts this. Excision had just wrapped up his killer closing set at I Love This City festival, but there was still 30 minutes left before the festival ended so I decided to catch the end of Guetta instead of heading home. Upon walking in he was playing Sandro Silva & Quintino‘s Epic, which had not been relentlessly overplayed yet since this was back in May. I thought to myself, “alright, maybe the rumors aren’t true,” as we situated ourselves among the crowd. Shortly after he began to transition to another song, which turned out to be an unedited version of one of his many top 40 hits. This is a complete contradiction of this last quote. I don’t know whether or not he is counting on his fans being ignorant, but it seems silly to make such an incorrect statement in a public interview. Look at this and this tracklist, not only are they extremely similar tracklists (that’s an entirely different issue), but he is playing many productions that are not his own AND many unedited versions of his own tracks.
I don’t know who you’re trying to fool, David, but you haven’t fooled us.
I’ve seen Guetta twice now, both at ILTC and Electric Zoo in 2012. Guetta is a great producer, and I mean that. He is probably also a great DJ. But he clearly phones it in when he thinks he can, and he absolutely did at ILTC. He was more on his game with interesting stuff at Electric Zoo, but it’s clear he has a live formula that he works through when he jets in to a festival. And, you know, I don’t really begrudge him that. Festivals are like heavily-managed photo ops.
I’d like to see what he does with a three-hour set at Ruby Skye from 1-4 AM. That’s when the best truly show how good they are.
“having personally caught part of one of his performances earlier this
year I can say he is telling the truth. I remember the moment vividly
that contradicts this.” Did you mean “isn’t telling the truth?” Sorry, I’m reading-comprehension impaired.
I did, just a typo!
Agreed, I would definitely love to see him at Ruby for an afterhours set. Although I’m sure they would want $100 a ticket.