Movement Electronic Music Festival 2013

DEMF 2001

In 2001, I along with 1.7 million people converged onto Detroit’s Hart Plaza for the second installment of what was then known as The Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF). For better and worse that event changed my life.  I’m not sure how many of you partied with 1.7 million people for 3 days at the age of 17 but I sure did. As a prep school kid I was thrown into a culture and an environment that I didn’t even know existed. I hopelessly fell in love with the music, the lights, the freedom, and the people.  As I type this I can still see it. I can still see Mix Master Mike perched on the main stage and screaming “What’s up DETROIT!!!” with thousands of people screaming as he dropped DJ Shadow’s track Organ Donor. I can still remember looking back and staring at the Renaissance Center and seeing my city like I had never seen it before. You may call this Detroit Rock City but we didn’t create rock, we just did it better than everyone else.  This is where electronic music was born, this city, this place. It was born here and DEMF was showing the world what we did.

From 2000 – 2002 nearly five million people converged onto Detroit. They came; they partied, and started a movement. Events like Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Electric Daisy Festival, Decibel Festival, and Electric Zoo began popping up across the United States. In 2003, the festival changed its name to Movement, then to Fuse-In in 2005, and finally back to Movement Electronic Music Festival in 2006. Over the past few years the festival has faltered while the others thrived. People like me stopped going simply because it just wasn’t the same. Recently, Movement has been making a comeback. In Beatport’s article listing the most anticipated dance-music festivals IN THE WORLD, Movement Electronic Music Festival came in second and #1 in the United States for 2013.

Going to Movement this year was a very hard decision. Did I want to step back into a scene I ran away from? Do I want to risk ruining what I remember DEMF to be?  Well eight years later I did, in fact, return. As I approached Hart Plaza the anticipation was honestly eating away at my stomach. I could hear it, I could smell it, and it was Movement.

I decided to go right at noon and take in the whole Sunday line-up. I wasn’t sure if I could still go strong for 12 hours but I was willing to give it a try. The first place I went was the Beatport stage to check out Annie Hall. I have to give Annie a ton of credit.  Although she had the opening 12pm spot she absolutely killed it. I really wish she could have played a later set. She was way too good of a DJ to get that slot. Next up on the same stage was Bill Patrick out of NYC. Bill was unreal. I’m pretty sure that most of the people who were at the festival were either at the Beatport stage or making their way to it. Bill Patrick laid down a perfect mix of deep house that showed exactly why he was a former DJ at Limelight in NYC and now the resident DJ at Pacha in Ibiza, Spain.

Ben Klock and Marcel Dettmann

After Bill Patrick’s set I continued walking around but it just wasn’t what I remembered. It was dead, there wasn’t much to do, and the music wasn’t very good. So I put my head down and headed home. I was sitting on my couch for maybe 30min and for some reason just felt compelled to go back. So in typical Adventure Detroit style, I did. When I walked back in the first place I went was the Underground Stage. It was insane, so many people! Ben Klock and Marcel Dettmann were absolutely fantastic. This was the Movement that I remembered!

Movement 2013 (Stacey Pullen)

After that it was a complete whirl wind. You had Detroit’s own Stacey Pullen ripping up the main stage, Ben and Marcel finishing up and over at the Electric Forest stage, Big Chocolate. Trust me I did the same thing when I heard the name. It sticks though doesn’t it? Well Big Chocolate had the crowd going like an old school DEMF crowd. I actually counted nine crowd surfers up at one time. It was fantastic. I’ve been to over 100 concerts in my life. Big Chocolate created one of the most hype crowds I’ve ever seen. His music choice and energy on stage just set the crowd off. It was a perfect example of what happens when So Cal meets Detroit.

 I am so glad that I decided to go back. Sunday night was exactly like what I remembered.  The music was great, the people were great, and it was just fun. Unfortunately due to the weather I skipped out on Monday but I have to say I was impressed. I will definitely buy a VIP pass for next year and check out all three days.

I know that some of you are reading this with a stereotype in your head. You probably think of electronic music as a bunch of drugged out people in rainbow clothing playing with glow sticks. Yeah, you are right, that is about 10% of the crowd. Electronic music isn’t about candy kids, fist pumping guys from Jersey Shore, or taking as many drugs as you can possibly ingest. Does that happen? Of course it does. What show have you been to where it hasn’t? It’s a rarity that draws attention. I’m here to tell you that isn’t the norm. Electronic music is international and can be enjoyed by every type of person from every walk of life. So what if people dress a little crazy, that doesn’t change the fact that they are awesome and doing the exact same thing that you are. So put your stereotypes aside, spend a little money, and go check out one of the greatest events in one of the greatest cities in the world. Remember “There ain’t no party like a Detroit party, cause a Detroit party don’t stop.” Join the Movement.

Stephen Moore

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