Just got back from Detroit and here are a few things sitting on my brain
from the weekend. I'll probably post some photos when I put them online.
Aux 88 live with K-1 and Tom Tom on synths, vocals and vocoder and Digital
on turntables doing the beats. They played a whole bunch of classics and
they also played a few new tracks. at one point they had the crowd do a
call and response chant of "techno, electro". Unfortunately, the volume was
very low for some of the tracks, so low you could talk over the music
inside the bowl of the main stage.
Octave One doing Blackwater live with Ann Saunderson.
Buzz Goree and Kenny Larkin ripping up the main stage Sunday. The lineup on
the main stage had changed a bit from what was posted on the website, and
I'm not sure if Blake Baxter actually played but if he did I missed him.
Kenny did a great techno set with a drummer on congas and percussion. Not
annoying like I have found many conga players at house events. Hard and
funky. Overall, I was at the main stage much more often than past years
mostly because there was more detroit techno being played there whereas in
other years I found the main stage to be dominated by house and urban
grooves. I think this may be in part due to the fencing and entrance
fee/security check which made this year's fest feel more like a rave than
past years.
omelettes and fresh fruit at the Plugged-In Sunday Brunch with Paul
Randolph singing with a keyboardist and percussionist.
Rob Hood pumping the eternal bass monday morning. Though I would have liked
him to venture a little bit from the signature minimal sound the small
crowd uhe could probably have been a little more adventurous The Electric
Avenue party were troubled by last minute venue and lineup changes, but
they pulled through with Rob Hood. The party ended up being in a huge
warehouse in the Eastern Market with a small pumped up crowd. T-1000 played
a great set of techno with hip hop style cutting and you could tell he was
thouroughly enjoying the energy. It was refreshing to see these high
profile artists on a more limited dj setup. It felt like a house party
compared to the remote dj booths at the festival stages which made it
harder for me to connect with the djs.
Electrofunk doing Shake it Baby live after a great set of what can only be
described as electro funk. A very traditional 70s funk band setup with
short booty references and a slightly muted thump. It was made all the more
relevant for me after watching the Mr. De A Detroit Story DVD the night
before. Very well made documentary about Mr. De.
A basement, redlight and a feeling at Oslo for 3 chairs saturday night. It
was hard to decide what to see and when especially taking into account
varying tastes amongst party companions but We ended up at the 3 chairs
party on saturday night. the crowd was much more relaxed and diverse than
the festival and the mood was excellent especially later in the night.
Can't give too much detail on the lineup and tracks off the top of my head
right now, but Theo Parrish played last from about 2-4 with a set that was
all over musically going from disco song to tracked out minimal techno from
mix to mix. He was playing harder and more techy than when I've seen him in
California.
There were alot of kids on stage this year which makes it seem like techno
has a bright future. Aaron Carl had two kids up on the stage with him along
with a saxaphonist and an MC. Niko Marks brought out what I would assume to
be his son to play on a miniature drum kit during one song. I can't recall
hearing anything recorded by him but live he played an electric piano and
sang with a band consisting of a bass player, guitarist, saxaphonist,
drummer and 3 singers. It was a great latin inspired jazz fusion set with a
few reggae songs that I found somewhat annoying. My friend who is more into
rnb, hiphop and soul was totally digging it. Also, Mr. De brought his
daughter onstage for the song he wrote for her.
And of course shopping at Submerge is always a thrill. It was great to see
a newspaper article in the exhibit written about Cybotron shortly after
they signed to Fantasy. Rick Davis and Juan describe themselves as a rock
and roll band in the article which I found amusing. It was funny to see a
commercial for the submerge store on the large video screen at the festival.
Worst change to the stage setups
Moving the dj booth over by the steps facing the river at the Waterfront
stage. The sound was still coming out of the empty amphitheater area on the
other side of the steps where the waterfront stage live performers played
making it very quiet in front of the booth which was placed in awkward
position making it difficult to see the great scratching and mixing like
during the B Calloway and the Body Mechanic tag team set.
Best Change to the stage setups
Moving the underground system to the shorter fall wall seemed to create
alot more space but I didn't spend much time in the underground stage,
especially when it was mobbed with people.
Best free stuff
A Sound Sampler Part 1 cd from the 3 Chairs party including a great motown
cover
plastic noisemaker bats like you find at sports games that were passed out
before Aux 88's live set that said "I witnessed the return of Aux 88".
Unfortunately I lost my pair.
The free bags at the sunday brunch with mix cds, a Compost promo cd,
stickers, a jigsaw puzzle, and more.
random detroit tecno moment
This drunk wanker had a badly drawn plastikman tattooed on his back! Check
it out http://www.hurlbotics.com/tattoo.jpg He had a megadeth tattoo on his
arm. Also, seeing sexy girls walking around in mini-tees that say Detroit
Techno on them was weird. I thought such things were worn strictly only by
techno geeks, but no.
Worst detroit moment
feeling like I'm at a high school dance while attending the festival at night
Most popular techno army:
Detroit Techno Militia. At times I had thought I had stepped into a secret
meeting as I was constantly surrounded by folks wearing these t-shirts.
Good job on promotion!
