Once again, Detroit was transformed over Memorial Day weekend. Movement Electronic Music Festival this past May was stacked. It featured over 115 performances, six stages, and three days jam packed with music, food, and dancing inside Detroit’s Hart Plaza.
Movement actually began back in 2000 as the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) and has transformed over the years (with multiple names and producers) into the legendary festival it is today. And every single year, Movement brings millions of music lovers (and artists) into the city where techno was born.
This year was no different.
Movement Eve
There are always a handful of pre-parties to choose from the Friday before, but we always kick off the weekend with the Bang Tech 12 party at Bookies, a bar in Detroit. It has three floors and a large outdoor patio with a different dj playing in each spot. The vibe was the perfect way to kick off Movement weekend.
Day One: the day of effortless and energetic dancing
The first day of the festival is always a whirlwind of checking out the vendors and the food trucks, wandering from one stage to the next to see what changed from the previous year, and exploring everything VIP has to offer.
VIP had a pop-up stage of its own and showcased Soul Clap’s House of E-Funk on Saturday. Soul Clap always puts on a helluva party and their takeover of the VIP stage was the perfect prelude to their after party at TV Lounge that raged on well into Sunday morning.
Saturday’s lineup had a wide variety of genres, giving everyone something they could dance to until the festival gates closed.
Stacey Hotwaxx Hale, a Detroit house staple, kicked off the day at the Movement Stage (previously the main stage), followed by another Detroit favorite, Stacey Pullen.
Detroit Love took over the Stargate Stage with all local artists, including Moodymann, DJ Holographic, Octave One, and (of course) Carl Craig.
Shigeto, Magda, Derrick Carter and Mark Farina, DJ Minx, Masters At Work, Zeds Dead (Altered States), and Three 6 Mafia were a few of the other artists rounding out the first day of the festival.
Day Two: only a disco nap will save you
There are two types of people at Movement. The first enjoys the festival, heading home (or to a hotel) after the gates close. And then they’re back at Hart Plaza in the early afternoon. The second leaves the festival around midnight and heads to an after party, where they party until the sun comes up (and it’s the perfect time for brunch).
So, after a full night (and morning) of debauchery in the city and a disco nap, the evening at Hart Plaza saw a stacked lineup of DJ’s. Which meant some hard decisions had to be made; as much as we’d love to be in two (or three) places at one, it’s just not possible.
The Movement Stage was all things techno. Ben Klock kicked off the evening, followed by Detroit legends Richard Davis and Juan Atkins as Cybotron, and then another notorious Detroit DJ (and one of the founders of minimal techno), Robert Hood. Charlotte de Witte closed out the stage with an incredible hard techno set that was the perfect end to the second day.
While it was crazy difficult to deviate from the main stage, Sam Devine, Adam Port, and KiNK graced the Stargate Stage, followed by Kevin Saunderson and his son, Dantiez.
Detroit Techno Militia took over the VIP pop-up stage. Plus, Ben UFO, Seth Troxler, Asher Perkins, Mister Joshooa, Eddie Fowlkes, and Green Velvet helped round out the day.
Day Three: sure we can dance (we just can’t feel our feet)
And since two days of techno and house (and more) obviously aren’t enough, the final day at Hart Plaza was so stacked that an extra long disco nap and extra hydration were necessary before entering the festival gates.
Monday saw Loren, Audion, Bonobo, and Skrillex on the Movement Stage. Lee Foss, Dom Dolla and John Summit, and Kaskade Redux rounded out the Stargate Stage. And the Pyramid Stage was home to Heidi, Rebuke, Stephan Bodzin, and Fisher. It was, hands down, one of my favorite lineups at Movement over the years.
There’s nothing quite like this techno festival, hosted in the birthplace of techno (and that’s a hill I’m willing to die on). Until next year, Detroit.
