Movement Electronic Music Festival 2014: A Look Back on a Weekend Unparalleled.

  The Artists

Saturday kicked into high gear with Justin Martin on the Beatport Stage and the excitement of the crowd rushing in to catch his performance set a nice vibe. Justin spun a high energy set featuring a lot of his classic tracks. Black Asteroid and Chris Leibing both spun LIVE at The Underground Stage providing a lethal dose of techno and a dark escape from the sun and heat. Next door on The Beatport Stage, Damian Lazarus took the crowd on a magnificent journey as the sun set behind him turning the day into night which was quite a juncture. The close proximity of the stages allowed for us to migrate back and forth between sets and we quickly headed to The RBMA Stage for Tale of Us doing the Detroit Shuffle through the crowd past the underground stage and the front of the main stage. Deep orchestra-like instrumentals and dramatic build-ups were on hand at The RBMA Stage and closing it out was the hometown favorite; Stacey Pullen who hammered the crowd at the Made in Detroit Stage with hard bass, and smooth funky rhythms.

There wasn’t much time to freshen up between the festival and after party because George Clinton was set to take the stage and throw down at any minute and that he did at TV Lounge (a personal favorite as far as Detroit venues go.)  George Clinton took to the decks with classics like “Atomic Dog” and “We Want the Funk” and Soul Clap’s House of E-Funk commenced from midnight until noon on Sunday playing classic 90’s tracks with a soulful flare as the sun came up over the Detroit skyline.  The Highlight of this party was Stacey Pullen dropping a four hour set that was slated for two hours in the alley stage of the venue. Each and every track was better than the previous; mind=blown. It was clear he was going to make it difficult for anyone to speak of anyone else over the weekend.

After some rest and a quick little pinch of ourselves, Sunday was underway! The first stop was The Beatport Stage for Martin Buttrich – LIVE followed by a trip to The Red Bull Stage for local heavy hitter Seth Troxler. Dixon took over The Beatport Stage at 7pm and it was absolutely phenomenal, playing a flawless set that captivated the entire crowd. An overwhelming sea of “holy s***” and “can you believe this guy” were in the air as awe set in during his final build-up of a breathtaking vocal track. Maceo Plex followed up and certainly did not disappoint dropping a nymphatic set drifting between Maceo Plex and Maetrik at times which was impeccable. We then headed over to the main stage to catch Detroit icon Richie Hawtin dropping a filthy, hard bass line that left everyone literally breathless in true Richie fashion closing out the day and heading into the night.

Things seemed to be moving at a much quicker pace than the previous day and it was off into the night to the Leland City Club for the Flying Circus party. Mano Le Tough was the highlight and dropped a minimal set that offered an up tempo twist. In the basement was one-half of Art Department, Kenny Glasgow (as Johnny White was sadly unable to make it) throwing down a set that certainly had everyone feeling the energy in the room serving up track after track to the hungry packed basement. Shaun Reeves of Visionquest later joined him and went back-to-back creating a relentless vibe and causing the room to literally vibrate from all of the feet stomping.  

Any veteran of this festival will tell you that the Piece De Resistance of the weekend is The Old Miami, but for those who don’t know…you’ll just have to trust us. Seth Troxler and the fellas from Visionquest happily extend an invitation to DT for a back yard barbeque on their turf at The Old Miami (a war veteran’s bar on the outskirts of downtown Detroit.) The party was truly underground, not being advertised or promoted while keeping the line-up secret until the day of aptly named “Need I Say More” and playing host to DJ Tennis, Three, Dixon, and The Martinez Brothers amongst others. We danced the day away with the best crew in town sipping on some White Sangria and grabbing a perfectly grilled burger from our friend Michael. A party you have to experience yourself to believe.

Monday came out of nowhere, and it was time for Pete Tong. Pete, the legend that he is had somehow never played this festival and all ears/eyes were on him. Pete delivered an amazing set to a packed Beatport Stage followed by Carl Cox and Loco Dice on The RBMA Stage with another epic sunset in the backdrop. We then headed over to The Made in Detroit Stage once again to hear Kevin Saunderson light it up as he hopped on the decks and presented his highly anticipated Origins set. Kevin highlighted old school tracks such as Arrested Development’s “Everyday People” that had paved the way for music over the past several decades. His two sons looked on from the stage and one of them, Dantiez Saunderson dropped his own amazing set earlier that afternoon. We then once again headed to The Beatport Stage to catch Tiga tearing the house down with an exceptional track selection, insurmountably layering a fierce techno attack that was absolutely jaw dropping. Boys Noize backed out last minute and J. Phlip took over the reigns on her birthday to close it out at The Beatport Stage. Pioneer Jeff Mills closed out over at The Underground Stage, and Octave One literally kicked off his shoes as he closed out the day over at The Origins Stage.

Would consider this one of the best Movement experiences to date, though it was not quite over just yet as we headed into Monday night. The official Movement closing party; Phone Home was scheduled at Saint Andrews Shelter which was a ticket only event and the militant staff was not making any exceptions. The bar closed right at 2am but the party still raged on into the night with Maceo Plex going B2B with Michael Mayer spinning a hard industrial classic tech sound. Heading into the sweltering hot basement literally heated up the night as we caught Loco Dice and Stacey Pullen also going B2B. The music was so on point that no one dared step away no matter how hot it got. Stacey and Loco murdered the decks while our new found friends cooled them off with an old window fan and everyone danced with conviction to the sounds that were permeating throughout the room. At 4am the lights came on abruptly but the crowd was relentless and not ready to retire just yet. Across the alley a small venue called Mix would offer the proper Detroit sendoff; a folding table and a devastating set that no one saw coming courtesy of Michael Sandler of Low Tide/LA.