Once upon a time, Detroit started Movement. It wasn’t always called Movement, but the spirit and soul of this festival has stayed consistent from the beginning in reflecting the intangibles of this city and its community, regardless of the namesake it carries. Let me offer a bit of backstory to the origins of Detroit’s very own, Movement, one of North America’s earliest and finest electronic music festivals.
Movement became part of Detroit’s musical landscape in 2000. Originally it was known as Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) before adding ‘Focus’ to the beginning of its name template when sponsored by Ford Motor Company in 2001 and 2002. It changed it’s title briefly to Movement for 2003 and 2004, then became Fuse-In for its 2005 edition.
In its beginning, it was a free festival to attend. However, that model wasn’t sustainable for all the features and performers they sought to offer attendees, and the festival nearly didn’t make it out of its infancy. Thankfully, Detroit based boutique production company, Paxahau, took over running the festival in 2006. They restored and cemented the Movement moniker and guided this celebration to one respected and revered throughout the world. It’s not just a music festival. It’s Movement.
I elected to travel via the Amtrak rail line to arrive in Detroit about a quarter before 9PM on Friday, May 23. Personally, I love trains. It takes me back to my youth when my father worked for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and my siblings and I would join him on occasion for the train ride home. My mother would deliver us to his care, candy in hand, around the Metrarail Des Plaines or Mount Prospect stations en route to Crystal Lake. It’s a core memory for me, and maybe why riding trains feels so darn comforting. Thus, for this trip, the Amtrak Wolverine 352 departed Chicago’s Union Station at approximately 215PM to deliver me safely to Detroit within 5.5 hours. The return ride would take longer, but that’s days away anyhow. From there, Ryan Lapointe of Hear Magazine fetched and ferried me to our weekend spot at the Baymont off Jefferson Avenue.
There’s an authentic candor to how Detroit and its denizens conduct their business. Ebb and flow, rise and fall, grit without any quit. Legit, this place does hustle harder than many others. It’s a spirit that keeps the city alive and well. In the face of adversity, when circumstances feel dire, how should one respond? Believe in thyself. Form a plan of action, visualize a goal, commit to it, and you’ll see opportunities form. That’s a little sagely advice from your ol’ buddy bear as you navigate your own personal journey through this world.
Hart Plaza is a beautiful place to hold a music festival. It’s clean and tidy, with a beautiful view of the Detroit River and Windsor, Canada across the channel. The layout is tight. Paxahau organizers manage to pack six stages all together without too much noise pollution carrying across sonic barriers. It’s a wonderful feat, and each stage offers a different vibe and assortment of artists. Personally, I gravitated towards the Pyramid and Stargate stages throughout my Memorial Day weekend but also made sure to check in on the Detroit, Underground, Waterfront, and Movement stages. One of my favorite aspects of Movement is that you don’t have to travel far to change your situation’s sound.
There’s a good variety of music represented across Movement’s three days. You’ll find plenty of house and techno, but there’s an active effort to represent a wide swath of electronic genres. I was absolutely delighted to see Chase & Status on the lineup this year, as drum and bass is one of my personal favorites. Also, Hamdi representing some dubstep discipline. Nice, and I truly enjoyed his set. It had me bouncing around energetically from start to finish. You’ll also find the likes of trance, electronic instrumentalism, and even some hip-hop and rap acts, too. It’s a multi-genre fest which is a good way to keep this festival’s offerings fresh and welcome new demographics of fans that could potentially become long-term Movement advocates.
Who were some of my favorite sets? I’ve already mentioned Chase & Status alongside Hamdi. They were definitely top performers in my mind. Truthfully, any stage I checked in on throughout the weekend boasted exciting and engaging presentations. On Saturday, May 24, Stacy Pullen’s beats pulled me towards Stargate stage after my discovery that Mister Joshooa and his offerings on the Detroit Stage were absolutely in my wheelhouse.
Stacy Pullen is a techno innovator who mentored beneath techno legends Derrick May, Juan Atkins, and Kevin Saunderson. His music features an ethereal quality and bounds with high energy. Demonstrative, potent, and respectful. Mister Joshooa definitely hit the right notes from the moment I entered his atmosphere. I like music that boasts bite betwixt beauty. He crafts a delicate balance between darkness and light through sequences of house and techno tunage. It’s a vibe, and both these guys reflect the techno spirit that emanates throughout Detroit. I also much enjoyed Joris Voorn, a Dutch purveyor of house and techno productions, as well Jeff Mills who literally felt like he was telling me a science-fiction epic through his set.
Sunday, May 25, I started at the Waterfront stage with TSHA. She brings a wholesome vibe and healthy energy to her house presentations. We had chatted in the weeks prior for an interview and profile piece, which you can find here. Whenever I speak with an artist for a feature I write, I always make sure to catch an upcoming set. It’s part of my code of conduct. Afterward, I bounced around a bit before catching Walker & Royce at Pyramid Stage with some members of my local goddess gang from back home. After refilling waters and catching our breath for a minute, it was back to Pyramid for Layton Giordani which was SUPER FIRE. WOO! Armanni Reign, Charlotte de Witte, and some of Sammy Virji helped me finish my day.
Monday, May 26, and Memorial Day, was probably my favorite day of music. I started with Soul Clap before splitting time between Sonny Fodera at Stargate and Claude VonStroke on the Movement Stage. I was looking to hear a couple of my favorite Sonny Fodera tracks live, of which he played ‘Moving Blind’, before I made my way basically next door for Claude VonStroke’s triumphant return to Movement and Detroit. He’d been on hiatus for over a year as he toured and performed under his birth name and alter ego, Barclay Crenshaw, for pretty much all of 2024. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, this man has two of the coolest names you’ll ever hear in this industry. I’m fortunate where I’ve actually gotten to witness his performing under both aliases on one lineup, and in the same night! WOO! Freakin’ 2023 Wakaan, and I love Claude’s booty-popping house. It’s good to have him back. Love y’ Claude.
After monsieur VonStroke’s set concluded, I checked in on Sara Landry at Waterfront for some witchy, warehouse-style techno. She plays at an extremely high rate of speed, so you best limber up if you want to keep up. Then, it was off to Stargate to catch pretty much all of Mau P. He’s got a growing arsenal of tracks that absolutely slam. ‘Drugs from Amsterdam’, ‘Dress Code’, and ‘Beats for the Underground’ are high-profile bangers that have cemented Mau P as an artist to keep on your playlist consistently. After his performance, it was off to Waterfront for squats with Chase & Status before I finished with John Summit on the Movement main stage. Ol’ Johnny Boy knows how to mix together one helluva set. It was a terrific way to close out my Movement festival.
And now for some shoutouts, and I’m starting with the goddess gang who kept me company throughout the fest. My friends Payton Kiely, Bailey and Bliss, with Jameson and Jackson. Hella good people with healthy attitudes, I’ll tell you what. Payton and her gang are fellow Illinoisans like me. Payton is a healing force, the owner and operator of Peak Yoga and Wellness in Palatine, IL. If you ever find yourself in the area, stop by for some healthy and healing yoga movements.
Payton is also a creative muse to me. I take notes and write thoughts whenever I’m out and about at live music events, and I entered a terrific writer’s flow-state during Layton Giordani in her company. What does that mean? Here’s a sample from my journal. “Movement has got a natural feeling that resounds from the soul. If there’s a goal, a hole in yourself you want to fill, we suggest investing your energies into yourself.” Yea, it’s kind of like that. Also at Layton Giordani, I met the wonderful Michelle, who was handing out Pokemon cards to kids and adults throughout the weekend. Smashing, and well-played darling. Great vibes, all around.
Friday, as I entered the grounds of Hart Plaza, I was all dolled up in a terrific and colorful outfit. It’s kind of a staple of techno that you wear predominantly black, but I was coming off of Infrasound the weekend before and feeling colorful. Looking good and feeling good, boss. Well, a young woman by the name of Dayna approached and confirmed that was the case, I was looking smashing, and asked to take some photos on my behalf. I got to chatting a bit with her and her husband Ryan, and I’ll let you know, they’re good people who enjoy house and techno. It goes to show, when you put good forth, you get good back. Also, I want to take this moment to shout-out Ann-Marie who looked darling all weekend long. When I first saw her, she wore a brilliant white-winged outfit. I had to let her know she was definitely one of Movement’s winners, of which there were many throughout this weekend’s celebration.
A big-shout out to my guy Ryan Lapointe, the owner and founder of Hear Magazine. A Detroit based and homegrown operation, Hear Magazine, is the first music publication I ever wrote for, and I always appreciate those who give me opportunities. Another local staple I’d like to recognize is the TV Lounge venue and Todd Johnson. His daughter, Sillygirlcarmen, aka Carmen Johnson, is also a rising star in the electronic music scene who performed on Pyramid Stage at Movement during the weekend.
Todd invited me to an industry event celebrating the legendary Juan Atkins. Juan Atkins is one of the original founders of techno and was presented with an award celebrating 40 years of Metroplex Records, his groundbreaking electronic music label founded in 1985. Juan Atkins was gracious in receiving the award and shared the lion’s share of credit for his success with friends and family. He’s a humble man, and I appreciate Todd Johnson for inviting myself to enjoy the event. I also had the opportunity to shake hands with another techno legend and pioneer, Eddie Fowlkes, and we spoke briefly about Detroit and its vibrant techno scene. Eddie is a busy guy and we decided to enjoy a fuller conversation on a later date when our schedules are a bit more permitting.
Here, I’d like to take a moment to share some thoughts from another friend of mine from back home who has been attending Movement music festival for close to a decade. She’s originally from Michigan and I was happy to gain some insight from her concerning her thoughts and feelings about Detroit and Movement. For this episode, I’m titling her Madame Melanie, and here are some of her thoughts when I inquired about some of her favorite aspects of Movement.
“The local vibe is chill and polite. It’s not too big, right sized for the number of stages, merch, and food shops… A lot of the artists are from Detroit so it feels like a homecoming… And of course, some of the artists are original techno creators of the genre.”
Finally, before ending this episode, I’d like to spotlight a local business. Ties That Died. I always like to find one business to spotlight and Jessica Bayers and her crew get my nod. Their tagline is, “Killin’ garments one tie at a time.” Nice, well-played! Ties that Died is a lovely play on words, and represents apparel and items like t-shirts, coveralls, beanies, socks, hand and bath towels, and so much more. I happen to friggin’ love socks, so I grabbed a couple of pairs from their shop to add to my collection. These socks are composed of 100% cotton, they’re colorful, and the tie-dye designs pop.
I think that about wraps it up for this episode. Movement was a blast for its excellent selection of music and the wonderful community of people who call it home. As far as city-based festivals go, this is one of my favorites I’ve ever experienced. Clean, organized, well-maintained, with plenty of legendary names alongside talented up and comers. There’s a reason spectators assemble from across the globe for this celebration. It’s not just a music festival. It’s Movement.
This is Bear Swiftly, the Electro Scribe, signing off. Sayonara all you samurai.
Be well, be successful. Bear Swiftly.
–Electro Scribe–
