I’m sure I forgot something as I’m still in post-festival techno blur,
so if you see any mistakes (esp in the gallery) let me know. The real
world will set in soon enough as I have an essay due tomorrow.
Many thanks to friends, strangers and people whose names I cannot
remember for another great visit to Detroit! Shouts to Hannah & Tristan
who so kindly supplied beers and festive company, John who provided safe
passage thru downtown Detroit and cool stories, and Jess & Matt for
party and dancing fun.
Lisa :)
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Movement 04 – chillin’ in tha D
My 2nd Movement festival proved to be a great time. It didn’t have the
marvelous/new feel that the first held for me, but it was in no way
disappointing. I’ve taken 2 weeks break off school and work, choosing to
spend 5 nights of that in Detroit. I’m glad I stayed longer this year.
Last year I was bummed to have not gone rekkid shopping or looked around
more, so this year I planned a bit different.
First – the hotel. Last year I stayed at the Pontchartrain. It had a
great location but I thought for the $, it was not worth it. Plus it was
basically ‘the party-train’ and not what I was looking for (wanted
mellow space to crash & relax outside the festival & parties). So this
year, I tried out the Marriott Renaissance. I found it to be a chill
place all weekend. Located inside the GM HQ Building, it had lots of
things to check out. I wandered around, got lost, and enjoyed quite a
few sights & things there. The lady who cleaned the room was nice and
agreed to not spray air freshener in my room (their standard practice)
and left me lots of extra free English Breakfast tea (without my
asking). I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking for a
decent place to stay that isn’t party-central. It wasn’t cheap, but it
cost less than the Pontchartrain and was far nicer, imho. Oh, and it’s
very close to Hart Plaza – literally a 1 block (5 minutes) walk.
Friday, I spent most of the day walking around and later took a ride out
to Record Time in Ferndale. The place was cool with a nice selection of
CDs & vinyl. Picked up a few things I’d wanted or looked interesting. I
was most pleased to find a CD copy of Microgravity by Biosphere. The
staff were friendly & the place was very busy – likely with
festival-goers. Friday evening started @ the DMG BBQ and ended at the
Green Light Go!!! party. The BBQ was kewl with food, drink & tunes. I
saw a few people I knew and put faces to names from online. When we left
there for Agave, Corktown Tavern was pretty busy – alas, the perils of
being unable to exist in two places at once!
Green Light Go!!! at Agave was interesting. The inside space was a bit
more mod/posh than anything I’d seen all weekend and happily had room in
the back for dancing. The outside was less sterile feeling but very
crowded – not much room to dance. Highlights for me were: someone (Shake
or Claude?) dropping Carl Taylor’s Compulsion (love that track), Derrick
May wandering in the crowd outside and talking to people, Jeff Samuel’s
set - clicky & Herbert-esque at moments – loved it. I had many drinks so
it’s a bit fuzzy, but there was much dancing (at least towards the back
inside). Someone on 313 said no one was dancing – not sure where you
were dude? I think we took off after 3am so whatever happened after
that, I have no idea.
Saturday I caught various sets around the festival: Jeannie Hopper,
Derrick Plaslaiko, DJ Cosmo, Kill Memory Crash, Heiroglyphic Being. I
liked Derrick’s set the best of these. During the day the plaza wasn’t
packed with people, but by the evening it was very busy. Later, I headed
over to the Paxahau party – Yel 2. Luckily I ran into John from DMG
because if not for him, I wouldn’t have been able to bring in my camera
& get pix (thanks dude). The whole bit about "no cameras without a pass"
was lame. It wasn’t like that last year. If I’d known, I would have
gotten a media access pass before arriving. A bit of a pain it was – but
oh well, I guess they had their reasons. Catching Speedy J & Chris
Liebing early was fantastic. They played a bunch of stuff that was dark,
twisty and wickedly interesting! Of course after this, they switched
over to fast, loopy bangers (bah!) so it was upstairs to check out
Deadbeat vs Monolake. The room there was pretty chill (complete with
floor cushions) and dark with a large projection screen. On the screen
you could see the virtual feed from Monolake, with Deadbeat live in the
room. Stayed a little while for this & then went to the downstairs to
see Matthew Dear & Derrick Plaslaiko play. Their set was killer, as
always. No boring tracks to be found here! After a bit Mathew Jonson did
his live PA. This was, hands down, THE BEST thing I saw all weekend.
Absolutely amazing! The sounds he cranked out kept everyone moving and
more than interested. He bopped around and was all into his music –
twisting dials, pushing buttons, sliders, keys & keypads. If you have a
chance to see or hear this guy – do it. After this, it was back upstairs
to catch Biosphere. Ah, the man himself gave a live performance! For me
this was special because I love his music and respect his work very
much. People were crashed out on the floor & the room was packed. Geir
ran mellow visuals and did a continuous set of his stuff. I got to hear
lots from Substrata, Shenzou, and a couple of trax from Microgravity and
Patashnik. So lovely it was.
Sunday, after catching Michael Geiger and Kai Alce, I visited the Sacred
and Profane exhibition closing at the Detroit Artists Market. The setup
was primarily listening stations of ambient, jazz, experimental/noise
works from various artists. There was also live PA from Thinkbox. The
experience was atmospheric & pleasant. Each part of the exhibit had 3
sets of headphones and a place to sit for a shared listening adventure.
That evening I attended the After Dark Dancing party at the City Club.
Neat space – someone said it’s normally a goth club? I had to check my
camera at the Ramada desk & while there was treated to a couple of drunk
dudes getting into it with 2 huge bouncers. Not sure what they were
thinking (or not – haha). Back at the club I saw Gary Martin, Stacey
Pullen and a bit of Francois K. I didn’t catch much of what was played
in the two downstairs areas ‘cos I was mostly upstairs or talking to
friends. Stacey’s early/middle set was sweet – but later it got soulful
& vocally which I’m not so much into. The club got very hot & crowded
late so I headed out before seeing Derrick May spin.
By Monday I was exhausted but dragged my carcass over to the festival.
It rained in the late morning / early afternoon but then became
beautiful. I got to the festival late & caught Brett Dancer playing on
the Movement Stage. It was an unforgettable time with the sun shining
down, strong & warm after the rain, seagulls flying around, a soft
breeze pushing clouds around the sky, set to music that would make you
smile. I wished for a lounge chair to crash out but instead settled for
the stone seats and the company of friends. In front of the stage, a
little girl danced barefoot to techno in puddles of water with her
mother watching nearby. Stopped by Kai Alce and then checked out Rednose
District/All out K and Kenny Larkin – LD/313ers hanging there (waves
hello). That evening was the UR party. It opened late but once we got in
they had Indian food (yum), cool visuals and a nice space. The Youth
Center was setup well (inside & outside spaces) however it quickly got
hot & packed inside. I saw a good part of the Timeline set before
reluctantly deciding to call it a night. I was exhausted, overcome by
heat, lack of air and in need of allergy meds. I loved the Kraftwerk bit
Timeline did – that was quite the groove!
Fun festival moments:
--Amongst thousands, running into the same people all weekend, even if
we didn’t tell each other which parties we were attending – small world
indeed.
--Seeing someone carrying a "message from extraterrestrials" sign.
--Spotting scary raver getups – possibly the worst was at the UR party
(silver pants, multiple glowstick necklaces and a spikey cap of lights).
--Kenny Larkin asking if the crowd wanted him to make us tea – ‘cos we
were sitting down (vs dancing) at the Hi Tech Soul Stage.
--Watching seagulls fly over the Movement Stage and fight over a giant
piece of fried food one was carrying – it almost fell into the crowd below.
--Geeking out with Tristan about Telco – lol!
--The cab driver-turned-philosopher who wanted to discuss self, identity
and emotional connections established via music – gotta love it!
Find pix here:
http://www.dogsquad.co.uk/~lisa/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Movement04
