Movement Electronic Music Festival 2017
@ Philip A. Hart Plaza,Β Detroit
May 27-29, 2017
Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom. A cacophony of thunderous techno and hip hop ricochets off the concrete structures throughout Hart Plaza. People of all ages, dressed as rockers, candy ravers, a gorilla, or normal looking peeps wearing Detroit Hustles Harder t-shirts stream past me with Coney dogs, pretzels and king cans. Iβm standing in the center of the plaza, flanked by the Detroit-Windsor riverside pyramid stage, food trucks, a stone arc, and a hanging black fist at the gate. My arm is misted by water from the naval-like, space ageΒ Horace E. DodgeΒ and Son Memorial Fountain, designed byΒ Isamu NoguchiΒ andΒ Walter BuddΒ in 1978 β just a few years shy ofΒ Cybotronβsfirst techno single βAlleys of Your Mindβ released in 1981 (Deep Space label). This classic Detroit techno track would go on to sell 15,000 copies and pave the way for the gold records ofΒ Juan Atkinsβ releases, and others from theΒ Underground Resistance, the godfathers of Detroit techno.
Hart Plaza is an appropriate location forΒ MovementΒ , the annualΒ homage to techno held every Memorial Day weekend. Techno draws from jazz, Motown, the novel visions ofΒ George Clintonβs Funkadelic, as well asΒ Star TrekΒ (a futuristic community where everyone can get along), according Thomas Teknobrat, my Canadian tour guide to theΒ Exhibit 3000 at the Underground Resistance β a.k.a. the secret Detroit Techno MuseumΒ (3000 East Grand Blvd., just down the street from the Motown Museum / Hitsville House).Β In this way,Β Noguchi and BuddβsΒ large circularΒ metal sculpture reflects the intergalactic innovation andΒ AfrofuturistΒ influence on Detroit techno, a genre of electronic musicΒ rooted in urban struggle, decay and marginalization.
Since taking over fromΒ DEMFΒ (Detroit Electronic Music Festival) and Fuse in 2006,Β MovementΒ has grown exponentially and garnered a lot of new, international fans, be they techno aficionados or voyeurs to the largest and best techno music festival in the world.Β The music and sonic exploration atΒ MovementΒ differs from other North American electronic music festivals. Instead of catering to an overall experience with music being one of many facets,Β MovementΒ delivers a consistently music-focused festival. Here,Β DJ’s and live talent deliver harder sets but without pretention. I cannot explain why. Perhaps itβs the soul of Detroit, a city marked by aΒ rich musical history that birthed techno by a group of masked DJs. Or, simply, because Detroit hustles harder.
While costs sky-rocketed and this year and it felt as though someone handed out flyers forΒ MovementΒ at Ultra, the βbleachingβ and commodification of techno has not overrun Detroit. Its rawness and the cultural legacy of techno as a protest music rooted in struggleΒ continue to flourishΒ in the hard walls of Motor City. Plus, the genuine hard-working citizens who open their door to a growing mass of music lovers and curious newcomers via one of the best electronic music festivals in the world are an inspiration. Itβs real here. And while I cannot teleport back to DEMF, I listened toΒ MoodymanΒ after viewing his iconic, architectural tribute toΒ Prince, a red-bricked house with purple curtains flapping in the breeze. I was zapped into the future byΒ Carl CraigβsΒ closing set that opened up with futuristic live synths played byΒ Amp FiddlerΒ andΒ Francesco Tristano beforeΒ zooming into technoΒ that fused into some more classic, softer sounds by close (Craig launched Detroit Love at ADE in 2014 with a closing live set featuring Detroit natives,Β Recloose,Β MoodymanΒ andΒ Mad Mike Banks).Β Craig followedΒ Stacey Pullen, who delivered another consistent killer set at the Detroit Love stage.
Day one also featuredΒ Ritchie HawtinβsΒ live CLOSE set that closed main stage on Saturday night, after a rare set by theΒ Belleville ThreeΒ and a cosmological set byNicole Moudaber. Saturday nightβs after parties were many withΒ Tresor, MoodymanΒ andΒ Soul Clapβs annual TV Lounge after party (with a surprise extended set by Louie Vega β essentially church) andΒ Josh WinkΒ being highlights.Β Gene FerrisΒ andΒ Seth TroxlerΒ were heralded as Gods by my companion for their after party and main stage sets.Β Dirty BirdΒ fans were regaled by the historic Fillmore Sunday night party yet again. And Old Miami had a three-hour wait by 11 am with Troxler coming out to greet us with who was on the line up. AsΒ Black MadonnaΒ closed his set with Madonnaβs βBorderline,βΒ Doc MartinΒ took over before CanadaβsΒ John AcquavivaΒ made a surprise pop-up set, venturing far from his usual fare beforeΒ Kevin SaundersonΒ closed out another salute to Memorial Day from Detroitβs favourite veteranβs club.Β UKβsΒ DJ HarveyΒ opened upΒ MovementβsΒ final day at Hart Plaza with a mellow disco set that featured favourites like βStomp!β under welcomed blue skies.Β Maya, J PhlipΒ and strong acts played a pop up tent in the VIP area (this was seriously the best music at the festival at one point).
But the highlights for me were not at Hart Plaza, where space age sculptures and techno pound into you from all corners of its urban concrete abyss. It was being back in Detroit β a city that despite so much hardship continues to reinvent itself and stay positive. Sure, Movement lost Soul Skate this year,Β Moodymanβs skate party at a roller rink in 8 Mile this year, but the cityβs sprawling art installations, graffiti alleys, and dilapidated art deco historic buildings still deliver as only Motor City can.
Crossing the Windsor-Detroit border is like waking from a vivid dream that I will scramble to recall upon returning, delirious, back to Toronto after a sleep-deprived, musically intense weekend.Β βHow was Detroit?β a friend asks. βAmazing,β I respond, fuzzy on the details, save the steady boom-boom-boom of the bass bins.
(Photography by Talia Wooldridge)