OK Go’s iconic music video for “Here We Go Again” took the pop scene by storm back in 2006. The world had never seen anything like it before – four nerdy-looking guys not merely dancing on eight treadmills, but using the machines to pull off acrobatic stunts that might break most people’s backs. It even won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video the following year!
So, when four high school students decided to compete in their school talent show, they had an impossible idea in mind that would doubtlessly let them take home the crown: recreating the entire music video, eight treadmills, stunts and all, perfectly timed to OK Go’s original indie rock single.
Sounds ridiculous? Just wait until you see how impeccably they pull it off. The high schoolers’ dance cover has amassed an incredible 7.1 million views since reaching YouTube back in 2007, and Music Man readers can watch the performance unfold in the video above…
And, in case you’re not acquainted with OK Go’s original, one-take music video, or simply want to reminisce about the band’s mid-noughties magic, just check out the original below.
Performed by students Matt Bersi, Hieu Tran, Ian Fisher, and Stephen Behrens, the four lads don identical outfits to OK Go’s original take, making their dance rendition even more spot-on.
It’s clear their audience had spent the night being subjected to the drab, run-of-the-mill style of high school talent show performances before these boys hit the stage – the audience’s screams almost drown out their soundtrack, with one top commenter on this viral vid writing, “What I love the most is the audience screaming like the actual band had turned up to perform!”
But this performance changed the game entirely, as the four friends jump from treadmill to moving treadmill, flinging themselves through the gaps before swinging themselves into acrobatic positions and jumping up to stand on the handlebars, striking more of the music video’s iconic poses.
We doubt even OK Go themselves would have been brave enough to perform this dance routine live, with the levels of risk and precision it demands. If you watch the band’s original music video closely, you’ll notice moments the red-trousered man almost slips mid-song, and another bandmate almost struggling to slide through another man’s legs; yet the high schoolers smooth out these edges, practically performing the dance better than OK Go!