- Movement is the moment each year in Detroit's calendar when ravers worldwide flock to the Motor City to celebrate its historical role in the creation of techno. Far from a chest-beating retro affair, however, 2012's instalment was a wide-ranging smorgasbord of electronic styles from the mainstream to the obscure, an effort by event promoter Paxahau to do the impossible—please everyone. You could tell from the crowd; teenage ravers decked out in neon and glowing accessories rubbed elbows with house heads in plain t-shirts across Hart Plaza, the concrete behemoth that plays host to the festival across five different stages. From house and techno to dubstep and moombahton, chances are whatever you were looking for you'd find it on one of the stages at some point during Memorial Day weekend.
Photo credit: Bruno Postigo
After the downpour that soaked the festival's initial hours, you couldn't have asked for better weather throughout. The Main Stage proved a perfect setting for Todd Terje's blissful disco on Saturday evening as the sun began to set, and Nina Kraviz's opening set on Monday, where her own delirious house jams and ghettotech interludes matched a heat-dazed crowd. It also saw some heavy-duty headliners, including Public Enemy struggling to shout above their beats (and backing vocal tracks) for a messy but crowd-pleasing Sunday night.
Photo credit: Bruno Postigo
The Beatport stage held the usual melange of minimal and house flavours, couched in a mercifully tree-shaded area. Sunday afternoon was the stage's primetime with a stellar run from Heidi, Maya Jane Coles and Maceo Plex. Coles' giddy 90-minute set seemed to attract the stage's biggest crowd aside from Claude VonStroke, and the anticipation was palpable as the pint-sized DJ took to the decks in front of rows of adoring gawkers. Monday's highlight was a back-to-back set from Nic Fanciulli and Joris Voorn, mixing in joyous house with sleek, rippling techno.
Photo credit: Bruno Postigo
The Red Bull Music Academy stage was home not only to some nice breezes but Movement's most adventurous programming, catering to a demographic best described by the sea of glowing attire seen from the pyramid perch. Saturday afternoon had an oddly-timed set from Actress, whose droning avant-techno impressed despite the ill-fitting sunshine and slightly muddy sound. Monday night saw the most mainstream-friendly lineup, from Araabmuzik's dubstep-trance mutations to Nadastrom's Moombahton and Major Lazer's outrageous stage show serenading the festival's youngest crowd, all fuzzy boots and dubstep t-shirts.
Photo credit: Bruno Postigo
The Made in Detroit stage attracted the heads, and was blessed by Mike Huckaby's storming closing set on Saturday night. Huckaby was rivalled by Andres' off-kilter set of wiggly synth jams and DJ Godfather's Monday afternoon juke set, which replaced the usual ghettotech showcase at the RBMA stage and featured unexpected dips into wobbly dubstep territory. The Underground Stage was hampered by terrible acoustics and strangely programmed lineups (and smoky air), but Sunday evening saw an unmissable stretch of techno and garage from FaltyDL and a restrained but powerful analogue live set from masked duo Dopplereffekt.
Photo credit: Bruno Postigo
Afterparties this year were beyond overwhelming, but Beretta's Saturday party stood out if only for the debut of Omar-S's live set, featuring a vocalist (performing "Tonite" to a tee) whose enthusiasm brought Omar's already rapturous techno to new heights, anchored by live bass—the only issue was that it was only a few songs long, buffeted by a typically reliable DJ set. Saturday night also held the weekend's most unique event, Moodymann's annual Soul Skate roller disco on 8 Mile—a $40 cab ride away from the plaza. There, until 5 AM, you could catch Andres and others skating to a choice selection of R&B and, best of all, free soul food.
By the time Monday night rolled around, it was time for headliner Jeff Mills (as The Wizard), easily the festival's most powerful set. Over innumerable turntables strewn about the stage (and a 909), Mills played a breakneck history lesson through electro and techno, before ending explosively with Plastikman's "Spastik" sped up to heart-attack tempo. It was a retro-leaning yet completely breathtaking set that nicely typified the Movement experience this year—indebted to the classics but executed with slightly imperfect panache (some of Mills' mixes were abrupt and jarring). Mixing in artier fare with some of the world's most popular big-room DJs, it was a completely overwhelming experience in nearly every manner that left you with the feeling that Detroit still matters as much as it ever did in the global electronic music landscape.