In a technology driven display of branding and showmanship in Detroit’s downtown Hart Plaza, thousands of attendees converged on the Movement electronic music festival, which ran May 27-29, 2023, for a weekend of techno and debauchery.
While the official attendance figures were not available Wednesday morning, a typical eye perusal saw over 50,000 people each day of the three-day Memorial Day weekend. DJ sets, live artist performances on six stages of pulsating movement made this year’s festival live up to its name.
“What makes performing in Detroit is that it’s home; it’s where I can let my hair down,” says Detroit hip-hop artist and new mom, Kash Doll, who performed Saturday night before a raging audience who recited every word to her classic hits, Ice Me Out, and Ready Set.
The lineup of both homegrown and international DJ sets and performances included a mix of personalities spanning eras and genres, including the popular DJ Minx, Al Ester and Carl Craig, one of the founders of techno, along with the newest rising stars, Underground and other local house masters making their first Movement appearance such as Kenny Dixon, better known as Moodymann.
Other highlights of the weekend included the art installations, Coachella’s-esque pops from the ballooned figures that provided shade from the heat. Plus, illuminated bridges and overhead walkways that provided light through the festival’s maze of activations.
Making your way to the Underground amphitheater yielded an array of art murals and architectural renditions giving a history of Detroit’s linkage to the electronic genre. The Respect the Architects exhibition explored some of the Detroit electronic music community’s most impactful and unsung heroes. Meanwhile, upstairs on the patio, the Movement Studio included interactive demonstrations and instruments for attendees to create their own beats.
For those very small windows of chill time, sponsors Titos’ and Jars Cannabis provided seating areas and recreational ingredients to make the time roll on by. Their curated spaces offered the needed rest before each set to recharge.
The best performance of the weekend, in my opinion, had to be the first female in history to close the Movement festival since its 2006 inception. Charlotte de Witte, the Belgian producer-DJ is now the first woman to headline the main stage in a 90-minute set that brought in a new era for Movement.
But one of the biggest reasons for the success of festivals like Movement is its loyal fanbase who stand shoulder to shoulder, dancing until they fall out and loving every minute of it.
For more information on Movement music festival, visit movementfestival.com.
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