The internationally acclaimed electronic music festival revs up Saturday in downtown Detroit. ‘Looking for the Perfect Beat’ columnist Todd Ernst offers up can’t-miss picks and tips for attendees.
A Techno and Electronic Music Mecca: Movement takes over downtown Detroit this holiday weekend. (Photo/Todd Ernst)
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Detroit 2024 is a much different place than when Movement Electronic Music Festival’s preincarnate — the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) — launched in 2000.
The city is coming off of a historic gathering for the NFL Draft barely a month ago, where an attendance record of 775,000 people arrived, me included.
A re-invigorated Detroit Grand Prix is taking place the weekend following Movement.
And perhaps the crown jewel out of all of this: the grand opening of a reimagined Michigan Central Station the week of June 7.
All of that said, this bustle wasn’t always the way things were.
Before the Detroit Tigers moved into Comerica Park in August 2000, the Detroit Lions relocated entirely to Ford Field in 2002 and Dan Gilbert brought Quicken Loans to downtown Detroit in 2007, a group of event and techno enthusiasts instilled a belief in downtown Detroit, when most were decrying that of urban decay.
These enthusiasts activated spaces that were typically overlooked. They reimagined an experience in an urban area that was known as much for its ruins than its historic architecture. They also leaned into the musical roots of Detroit: Like Motown before them, the Belleville Three emanated, then exported, a sound to the rest of the world known as techno.
The Pyramid Stage at Movement (Photo/Todd Ernst)
These enthusiasts are better known as PAXAHAU.
Derived from the Mayan language meaning “power of music” and “of our time,” PAX as friends often refer to them, is a boutique production company that dropped their anchor in downtown Detroit before anyone else dared to wander down that way.
It didn’t hurt that these were the same people ambiguously hosting parties within abandoned warehouses and under bridges during techno’s infancy of the early ’90s.
The core team at PAX aren’t flashy, they don’t post photos or reels of them in front of Ferris wheels or private jets. In fact, I’ll go so far as to suggest they might operate with a bit of the ethos ‘If you know who we are, we’re doing it wrong.’
This dedicated team is responsible for the annual global migration to techno’s ‘Mecca’ every Memorial Day weekend, where techno newcomers co-habitate and mingle with the techno elite — all in a sea of black T-shirts.
That said, while Movement rightfully so leans into techno as a genre, often with much of the focus on the aforementioned Belleville Three (Derrick May, Juan Atkins, and Kevin Saunderson), the focus of ‘Looking for the Perfect Beat’ has always served as more of an on-ramp for those exploring electronic music, juxtaposed by where music and development intersect.
So while darn near every artist set at Movement has the makings of being life affirming, below are a handful of performances worthy of your attention if you’ve made your way to Detroit over Memorial Day weekend.
Borderland (Courtesy Photo)
Just over a decade ago the “Godfather of Techno” — Detroit’s Juan Atkins — collaborated on a project called Borderland with Berlin’s Moritz von Oswald.
The inaugural effort surprised many as Borderland took listeners on this dreamy if not out and out ethereal journey of dub techno. No question their debut was a master class in the paradigm of ‘less is more.’
A few years later, when Borderland released “Transport” to celebrate 25 years of the famed nightclub Tresor, the future-forward producers of Atkins and von Oswald cemented the Detroit-Berlin axis. Transport’s jazz undertones feel modern even now almost a decade later, and is a testament to the maturity of their production collaboration. Atkins and von Oswald are the embodiment that techno is both ageless and timeless; two esteemed professors if you will, able to offer up a PhD dissertation on the story-arc of techno. Their production acumen is revered worldwide, and their collaborative appearance in Detroit during Movement 2024 is an international treasure.
Historically, Monday (Memorial Day) at Movement is a bit of a rough day for the crowd that has been going at it pretty hard all weekend, thus 5:30 p.m. on the main stage with this historical duo is the perfect on-ramp for fans to begin their final night.
Dom Dolla (Courtesy Photo)
As diverse as they come stylistically, Dom’s ability to take things hands-in-the-air hard, then turn on a dime into something like his smash collaboration with Nelly Furtado called “Eat Your Man,” is fairly unparalleled. The Grammy-nominated artist has proven himself to be an absolute master of funky swaggering bass lines as evidenced in “San Frandisco,” along with synth heavy “Rhyme Dust” that was co-produced with Detroit’s Mark Kinchen (aka MK).
When Local Spins had the opportunity to connect with Dom after his sold-out show at Elektricity back in 2022, I asked Paxahau’s artist relations manager Ernie Guerra if Dom’s prior appearance at Movement 2022 and upcoming appearance at Movement 2023 signaled a change of direction. “No, I don’t think so. People forget not too long ago Movement featured artists like Ice-T and Snoop Dog, so we’ve always prided ourselves on the diversity of our talent offerings, and Dom is precisely the type of authentic artist Chuck (Flask) leans into.”
A few months back, I saw a video where Dom reworked the seminal ’70s hit from Ram Jam called “Black Betty.” I can’t think a more appropriate venue than Detroit Rock City for Dom to unfurl one of his signature efforts.
Nicole Moudaber (Courtesy Photo)
I first experienced Moudaber live where she played a b3b set with Dubfire and Paco Osuno. Not only did they pull it off, they brought the house down and continue these collaborative sets to this day. In addition to her set on the Movement main stage, Moudaber will perform Monday evening at the Magic Stick, for the “In The Mood 10-year Anniversary” show. One of Magic Stick’s talent buyers, Brie Clark, enthusiastically told Local Spins, “This has been six months in the making’ we’re finally here!”
DJ Holographic (Courtesy Photo)
• DJ HOLOGRAPHIC, 5:30 p.m. Saturday (May 25) on the Pyramid Stage – A little closer to home, Detroit’s house and techno staple DJ Holographic is coming off of major
global dates in Brazil, Europe and perhaps the premier venue in the United States, Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Self-described as “a one-woman funk machine born and raised in Detroit,” her mission is to serve up “a mix of musical cuisine that combines house beats, passionate R&B, hip hop, unreserved disco, true Detroit techno and Motown.”
DJ Holographic is touring in support of her new single called “Taurus,” a piano-driven bass vibe track that would find its home as much on a rooftop in Los Angeles, a jungle festival in Tulum, or a beach in Ibiza. While listening to “Taurus,” I found it to have an almost healing vibe, and it turns out, that was not by accident. “This new musical endeavor that I’m embarking on channels the healing power of music,” Holographic explains. As I’m grooving to her set from Tomorrowland 2023, perhaps she should add “gospel house” into her descriptors as well.
Azzecca (Courtesy Photo)
Azzecca first hit my radar a few years back when I noticed a new series of events in Chicago called “Dirty Disco.” While not exclusively female in nature, they were definitely designed with the experience in mind for the female nightlife consumer. Truth be told, Azzecca is one of my favorite types of DJs, meaning that while they may have a certain sound, they aren’t necessarily genre specific.
“My sound tends to be dark and sexy, which allows me to experiment with different genres and vibes. The sets are always dynamic; surprising the crowd is perhaps my favorite thing,” Azzecca offers. “My diverse musical tastes offer me extreme versatility as a DJ/producer, resulting from early influential Bristolian electro rock, artists like Massive AJack and Portishead.” I have friends still talking about her performance on The Observatory Stage at Electric Forest in 2023, so don’t sleep on this Midwest selector.
• TICKETS – General admission three-day tickets are $309, plus fees; daily passes are $159, plus fees. Some Sunday VIP passes also are still available. Get ticket info online here.
• MOVEMENT’S SIXTH MAN – In the world of professional basketball, there is a metaphor referred to as “the sixth man,” which ultimately means a deep bench, albeit they don’t often get the credit of the starting five. In this instance, the sixth man is Mike Fotias, older brother of Movement co-founder Sam Fotias. The trick to event production: If you’ve done your job properly, almost no one will talk about it. Conversely, if the sound is distorted or there is not enough bass, Reddit will light up like a switchboard with fans voicing their outrage.
Mike’s top-notch team never fails to deliver state-of-the-art gear, along with an extraordinary understanding of what it takes to produce an event of this magnitude — not without challenges along the banks of the Detroit River. Movement’s ethos is not to be flashy, so you won’t experience any cruise-ship size LED walls or fireworks, just frequency isolation that will darn near put a hole in your chest.
Movement at Night (Photo/Todd Ernst)
• DETROIT TECHNO CITY – Campus Martius Park is more or less the hub of downtown Detroit, and is barely a quarter-mile from Hart Plaza. It’s a great spot for photos, and there are typically food trucks in near proximity.
• GETTING AROUND – One unfortunate attribute of the Motor City: Public transportation isn’t what it is in similar cities of the same size. That said, there is now a proprietary bus that will get people inexpensively from DTW airport to downtown Detroit. In addition, the People Mover is pretty good at getting you around the downtown core, and the Q-Line up and down Woodward is a great option as well.
• AFTER HOURS – When Sinatra coined New York as “the city never sleeps,” he clearly hadn’t experienced Detroit. There is an expansive list of sanctioned after parties on the Movement website, and no shortage of non-sanctioned parties with a simple search in social media. While getting to an after party around midnight isn’t a huge issue, getting back to your hotel at 5 a.m. could be a bit trickier. Lyft and Uber have options to make a reservation; just plan ahead and be prepared to be flexible.
• FOOD – While there’s no shortage of great dining options in downtown Detroit, two of my favorites are Cadillac Square Diner for breakfast, and Grand Trunk Pub for lunch or dinner. No journey to downtown Detroit would be complete without a stop through next door neighbors American and Lafayette Coney Island, which ironically are separate businesses.
• WANDERING – From the Detroit River, the Dequindre Cut up to the Eastern Market is an amazing trek. A few blocks away within the Cass Corridor near Wayne State University is unparalleled sightseeing, especially with some of the 100-plus-year-old renovated mansions built for 20th century auto executives. From Cass Corridor, a walk down Woodward past the new LCA where the Pistons and Red Wings play will round a core area of downtown Detroit. Like any major metropolitan city, you need to keep your head up and maintain a proper presence, but by and large, Detroit is as safe if not more so than any other major city in the world these days.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Todd Ernst has been an electronic music DJ and promoter for 30+ years, and performs as the artist TELLURIUM. While his days are spent as the owner of an indie real estate brokerage; he also owns EXSIGN, which is an experiential entity that designs and manages corporate, non-profit and nightlife events like Irish On Ionia and TEDxGrandRapids. He regularly provides insights into the electronic music world with his ‘Looking for the Perfect Beat’ columns at Local Spins.
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