You know I talk with people who are respected artists who have been on the mailing list, and they don't have much respect for the 'chattering class' aspect of the 313 list. I'm not calling anyone out, I'm just saying ...
It is really easy to criticize an organization like Paxahau for their artistic choices, but I think it's missing a major point: Paxahau has survived in promotion for years -- and a mostly _respected_ player in the game -- by balancing art and commercialism. Now, they've taken on a job that could sink both their financial security and their reputation as promoters. Their job is to pack the Plaza. The way you do that is to book people who are famous to people who don't know that much about techno. Once they're there, they can learn a thing or two about real Detroit music. Some of them won't, but some people never learn anything. The 313 list is a collection of techno otaku. The perfect 313 list festival would likely attract people from the 313 list, their girlfriends and wingmen, and not many more people. That's not going to fill the plaza. I know a lot of people around my town who love dance music in the generic sense -- they know DJs, not producers, they can't identify famous tracks by title or artists. They're very excited about the festival, because of the names they recognize. They will go to see Richie, but once they're there, they will vote with their feet, and be wherever the music makes them feel good. The Detroit artists at the festival, who aren't Donald Glaude, or Richie Hawtin, etc should feel good about their chances with that crowd. And all those CelebriDJs on the schedule ought to know -- they better bring it, or they're going to be laughed out of town. Even kids who don't know who Ron Murphy is, who've never bought a 12", don't know Mike Banks from Mike Myers, who've never owned a turntable, know when a DJ is wack. I think it will be a brilliant festival weekend actually, and if you want to be a black t-shirt Debbie Downer about the whole deal, it's your right. Me, I'm going to be dancing like an idiot next to the kid in the tiger suit.
