Despite all the planning one might bring to a festival experience, sometimes things just cannot go according to plan! Following two amazing days of techno, house, and a little experimental EDM within the concrete park of Detroit’s Hart Plaza, a rain drenched Memorial Day definitely brought frigid revelers back down closer to Earth during Movement.
Whereas recent years offered the convenience of shade at both the Beatport and Red Bull stages, the reconfigured 2013 edition did very little to shelter people from an entire day’s worth of rain. A dampness curtailed the standard impromptu dance parties and kept many DJs camped out behind a blue tarp to save their gear from malfunctioning. For those looking to escape the downpour, however, the driving techno of the Underground Stage was the best refuge, and that area remained jam packed for the festival’s entire duration, no matter the performer. Though, Nina Kravitz brought numbers to the subterranean arena that security nor production could ever have expected or properly planned for.
Weather problems aside, Movement continues to score artists that you don’t normally see across the influx of American EDM festivals and others still that bring special sets to the Detroit faithful. Damn, even Boards of Canada couldn’t resist debuting the new “Cold Earth” before Squarepusher’s Main Stage/Red Bull Music Academy appearance. And it’s Movement that continues to try and educate the masses on the birth of dance music, bringing in legends like Moodymann, Masters at Work, Slam, and Steve Rachmad to showcase their talents to the new school. It’s these memories that you’re left with when the rain subsides.
So, when my car was skidding down I-75 and I saw the lights of a truck headed toward the driver side door, I must admit that it wasn’t my adolescence that streamed through my subconscious, but the gentle peaks of tech-house. When I awoke just a few seconds later, I could only think that it was the power of house music that kept me fairly unscathed. And that isn’t just the ramblings of a concussed brain.
Looking back at it, these are some of the artists that keep us dance-freaks jiving during all sorts of individual tribulations.
