ON THE FLOOR Josh Wink
Lil’ Louis
Detroit Calling
A city so tied to the sound of techno it now has an official ‘Detroit Techno Week’, the Motor City is still fighting to recover from the decimation of its industry. But thanks to its annual Movement festival, every Memorial Day Weekend the world’s best DJs and producers come to pay tribute to its undying legacy…
O
nce a symbol for the booming car industry, Detroit is now largely abandoned and steeped in
poverty. It’s a place where you can see Canada as you look over the river, but the vast majority of buildings are boarded up and gutted; where techno was born, from within its bleak interior, and is celebrated with a fierce pride that runs through its inhabitants. Where, amidst social decay and unrest, the city centre comes alive for three days as people leave their lives behind and dance at the Motor City’s world-renowned electronic music festival, Movement. After Mayor Bing signed a proclamation declaring the Memorial Day Weekend in May ‘Detroit Techno Week’ from now on, we headed into the festivities and a mind-boggling amount of after-parties, fully ready to experience the past, present, and future of music.
Movement Festival takes place in downtown Detroit at Hart Plaza by the river that separates the city from
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the southernmost city in Canada, Windsor. The bizarre looking Dodge Fountain marks the centre of the festival and is flanked by five stages, both above and below ground, as stairs lead to different levels, the mostly concrete terrain dotted with bits of grass here and there. It is easy to lose yourself within this sprawling urban playground, but a look up quickly reminds you where you are, as the entire plaza cowers in the shadow of the multi-towered, imposing Renaissance Center with its neon blue General Motors logos.
Although the main focus lies in the city’s export-strength techno music, the Beatport and Red Bull Music Academy stages round out Movement with multi-genre line-ups from a largely international pool of artists. Admittedly, we spend the least time at these stages, but still enjoy great performances from the likes of Actress and Maya Jane Coles that remind us that Midwest American electronic music’s influences are far-reaching and thrive around the world.
The darkest music is often found at the Underground Stage, a subterranean concrete space that resembles an apocalyptic bomb-shelter. It is here that we see shows ranging from Jimmy Edgar ‘s A/V spectacle of glitchy funk to Dopplereffekt’s electronic compositions that leave the crowd in stunned silence. Interestingly enough, it is also here, and not the Main Stage, that we finally get to see ‘The Originator’ Juan Atkins. He spends the first hour of his set attacking the crowd with caustic beats and bass before going on a mini-journey through Italo disco, funk and old rave, then switching back into the genre he largely created, whipping the crowd into a veritable techno frenzy.
One of the few patches of green within Hart Plaza outlines where we spend the majority of our time at Movement, the Made In Detroit stage. It is a relatively lo-fi affair, with minimal lighting and a beautiful banner depicting the Detroit skyline, and pays homage to the city, with its rootsy blend of mostly local artists. The crowds here are an eclectic blend of sub-cultures and ages, from 60-somethings to teenagers. We hear some of the warmest music at this stage, ranging from Photek’s ‘Mine To Give’ to the late Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’. Standout sets come from Marcellus Pitman, Kyle Hall back-to-back with
www.djmag.com Actress
Jay Daniel, Rick Wilhite, MK, Derek Plaslaiko and Stacey Pullen.
Unsurprisingly, it is the Main Stage that provides the weekend’s best music. Saturday’s early evening laidback grooves from Greg Wilson and storming closer by Lil’ Louis kick the festival off with a bang. The next afternoon starts off with twists and turns, as Carl Craig weaves together a heady selection of both his own and other records. Josh Wink’s set later that day is Sunday’s highlight, largely due to his ending medley of classics, including Beastie Boys, Green Velvet, LFO, DHS, Jay Dee, Plastikman and his own ‘Higher State Of Consciousness’.
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