I appreciate the view of my esteemed colleague from Technotourist Central, but I suspect that either allowing everyone on the committee to play or nobody to play were the only two reasonable options.
On balance, I think it was wise for all to play. Juan's set was either enhanced or upset by one of the most dramatic atmospheric performances *I've* ever seen. Huckaby is one of my alltime favorites, and don't you love how he always puts in at least two or three *good* old skool acid tracks in there. Mike Grant, I would go see him play anywhere, no more needs to be said. Bone, same thing. Eddie Fowlkes, "20 years and I *still* can't get no love," bring it on. Kelli Hand had one of my three favorite sets last year. And finally, Alan Oldham, a good friend to many here on 313, and unquestionably the #1 overdue pick to play at the DEMF. So I have *no* complaints about that really, though it would be wise not to consider it a precedent. We're gonna get more than a dozen hours of great music from these folks, so what's the worry? In today's Freep, Dan Sicko and Carl Craig himself both raise the issue implicitly of whether the festival lineup really should be more focused on "Detroit" or "Electronic," in the sense of encompassing the widest variety of cutting-edge high quality electronic music. I really appreciated the more experimental edge for Carl's selection approach -- for example, Afronaut last year was by itself one of the most inspired picks he made. Or pick your own favorites. I heard similar sentiments about Autechre, Titonton, and others. But I also think it's not bad to move the focus around a bit from year to year. The selection board clearly felt it was time to emphasize the jam, and frankly I felt the same urge myself. Not as many rocked me as often in 2001 as in 2000, just remembering back to distinctly different sets by Fanon Flowers, Stacey Hale and the Direct Beat Assassins in the first year. I'm not saying there shouldn't be different views of how good the lineup is. I don't agree with Carol Marvin that it's the "best ever," because each year has been so far above the minimum I would be satisfied with to spend a bunch of dollars flying 4000 miles round trip and dropping a bunch of dollars into hotels and cab fares. The other thing that's happening is that the limitations of the festival format -- aside from the strife over Carol Marvin's limitations as a manager -- is stimulating a real explosion in after-parties and ongoing activities that has manifested over the last couple of years in a tentative renewal of the Detroit club scene. When I first started coming to town in 1994 for the late lamented DRMC, there was nothing even intermittently happening at places like Foran's, Porter St. and so on. Sure, there were local joints and cabarets that were invisible to us out-of-towners, but really, think about it. The festival has kicked some people into gear and some of it is going to stick. The one real loss, in my view, is that radio seems to have stopped being a factor in supporting the music, especially the local versions, in any real way. This has more to do with industry structure and the changes that Congress and the FCC backed in the mid-1990s, but we know full well from our own history that vibrant radio kicks new scenes into orbit. The festival by itself can't do that. Fred --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
