The Freep report finally puts out the basic story of what happened last year, already known to some here. In spite of Derrick May's antics, I give respect because he did not give up and stayed with that ancient phrase, "the show must go on." And as for Kevin Saunderson, any reservations I have about the style of the sets he's played that I've heard recently have to be set aside. He saved the festival, both directly and through a lot of work to get others to pitch in.
It's an enormous effort to put on an event like the festival, and no doubt there will be a lot of problems and second guessing about this year's as well. But here's the important thing when you get past all the retrograde bU##$#1T that pervades the music scene in Detroit (or anywhere) . . . the community *supports* this thing and will do anything reasonable (and well beyond reasonable, as in the case of someone I know who got the call Friday night last year to set up turntables at midnight and again early in the morning so the show *could* go on). That means that once the festival hits the takeoff point, it *will* happen. What is needed right now is some support from the city council and maybe for the rest of us to show some love. -- fred
