Detroit Report #1: Techno Fans Arrive For Electronic Music Fest Organizers expect hundreds of thousands of people at free event. Staff Writer Brian Hiatt reports:
DETROIT - This gritty, depopulated city is hardly known as a tourist mecca. But don't tell that to Otto Koppius, a 28-year-old techno fanatic who, along with a group of similarly inclined friends, flew nine hours from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to attend the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, which begins Saturday (May 27). And Koppius and his friends aren't alone, he said Friday, standing in front of Hart Plaza, the waterfront park that will host the free festival. "We met some people from Belgium, from Sweden, from Portland, Oregon, from New York, people from all over who are coming here," he said. "This is the hometown [of techno] - this is where it all started." "It's like techno is finally getting the respect it deserves." - Beniah Leuschke, festival attendee Another group of fans gathered at Hart Plaza said they could feel anticipation for the festival everywhere in the city. "Everyone we've talked to here, every single human being, said they're going," said Beniah Leuschke, who sat with friends on the edge of the park's underground amphitheater, which will serve as one of the festival's stages. "It's like techno is finally getting the respect it deserves here." Leuschke, 26, and five friends drove into town Friday from Kansas City, Mo. As of Friday evening, though, electronic-music fans hadn't yet stormed Detroit en masse. Unlike many multiday rock festivals, the three-day event hasn't attracted large numbers of fans camping outside its grounds. Paula Makar, a festival vendor setting up for the event at the park, looked aghast at the very idea of camping out. "I don't think electronic-music types are camping types," she said, shaking her head. In fact, camping is prohibited at Hart Plaza. Out-of-town fans will be staying in hotels, not roughing it. But many visitors probably won't be sleeping much, anyway. In addition to the festival itself, which will run from noon until midnight each day, promoters will hold after-parties throughout the city each night, all night. "We're gonna stay up the whole time. There's the official after-parties, the rave parties - it's gonna be sick," said Joe "Jesus" David, an 18-year-old from the Detroit suburb of Southville. David and his friends were among the few fans hanging out by a nearly empty Hart Plaza on Friday evening. The huge park, which beginning Saturday will be filled with thumping beats and, according to promoters' predictions, hundreds of thousands of fans, was silent, except for the gentle hiss of the artificial waterfall near its center. Dozens of white vending tents were already set up, and the festival's multiple stages were bursting with sound equipment. "I think a lot of people don't have a clue how huge this is going to be, how important this is," David said. "I think a lot of people who don't listen to this music will at least gain an appreciation for it." The festival's headliners include iconic Detroit DJs Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, Richie Hawtin and Stacey Pullen, along with hip-hop acts the Roots and Mos Def. http://www.sonicnet.com/news/archive/story.jhtml?id=971423&pid=859928
