Thanks for the feedback Fred! Good to hear Lusine had strong presence-I've been a fan for a while. I think it's the Kate Simkos and Lusines that I'm a fan of seeing at festivals the most...the booty beats are just a very strong bonus.;)
Hopefully my other festival favorite is there...Jerusulem Garden.:) enjoy the rest... diana --- On Sun, 5/24/09, Fred Heutte <ph...@sunlightdata.com> wrote: > From: Fred Heutte <ph...@sunlightdata.com> > Subject: (313) festival first day > To: 313@hyperreal.org > Date: Sunday, May 24, 2009, 1:37 PM > The weather is pretty good although a > little humid during the day. Decent crowd > so the economy doesn't seem to be a big hit of attendance. > > Paxahau keeps increasing the stage budgets and so the > stages are getting > bigger and bigger, to the point of being bloated. I > mean, this is not a good thing. > The underground (Real Detroit) stage is a disaster. > They built a huge elevated > square platform in the middle of the floor and constructed > an elevated walkway > from the side so the DJs and techs can get to the > platform. Stacks of bass > bins all the way around on the floor under the platform, > highs hung from above. > > Well, it might have been a good idea outside, but it takes > up way too much > space and makes it sound like you're inside a garbage > compactor. The mids > are blasting and everything else is slapping back against > the walls, floors > and ceiling just like always except moreso. Huckaby > said afterwards it was > horrible playing in there, I think he cut his set short. > > The problem is all my friends and favorites are scheduled > for the underground, > the 430 West showcase today (with my longtime running > buddies Monty Luke > and Will Web kicking off), and all the locals tomorrow > including Craig > Gonzalez, Seoul vs. Linder, Buzz, Audion. It's OK to > change things around > and try new stuff but --- What Were They Thinking! > > The waterfront (Red Bull) stage is now gigantic and faces > toward the steps, > taking up more than half the relatively small plaza > space. It has a full size > canopy over the top which is nice for keeping out of the > sun but I can't > even imagine what the budget is. The sound and > sightlines are good but > again it is way overkill, especially for the live > performances which could > benefit from a bit more intimacy with the audience. > It would have been a > lot better to put the housey stuff on the waterfront and > the live stuff at the > still-unused ampitheater and stop using the garage for > good. > > As for the schedule yesterday, I give the day's three stars > to Kate Simko > for a well constructed and grooving set. Lusine who > preceded her on the > waterfront was pretty interesting -- he's from the Ghostly > stable and lives in > Seattle from what I understand. Mieka du Franx and Drumcell > did > some nice stuff on the main stage during the day. > Adam Beyer was (sorry > to stay) boring and Marco Carola was pretty good, from the > bit I heard. > Kevin Reynolds had a disjointed but at times intriguing set > with Maliik > Alston goofing around on vocals and a really good trumpet > player. If > Kevin hadn't genre-hopped quite so aggressively it could > have been a > lot better, but give them credit for trying something a > little offbeat. Carl > Cox played three hours of what you'd expect, well crafted > ravey anthems. > I kind of liked it early on (Positive Education, The Bells, > etc.) but it got > samey after 10 so I drifted away. > > Attendance at the Friday afterparties seemed way > down. Last night, > everyone tells me Tortured Soul just killed it, but I was > at 1515 Broadway > where Chez Damier took a great ride through mid-1980s disco > house, > followed by Kai Alce. And the crowd spilled happily > outside onto the > sidewalk and it was a real Detroit party until almost 5 > am. So I count > the day as a success :) > > Hung out with Kent, Dave Walker and Carlos Souffront quite > a bit. > Still in seach of Otto, Sines and all you other muvva > f#kk@@$! > > I counted 25 afterparties on the Dluv list today, if that's > a record it's > darn close. So attendance is going to be spread out > and premium > party atmosphere will be hard to find, but I know you will > all be there > when Jeff Mills goes on... > > > fh > > > >
