Detroit Electronic Music Festival
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The Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) is a successful electronic dance music showcase held in Detroit each Memorial Day weekend from 2000 to 2006. In subsequent years, the similarly themed festivals Movement (2003–2004), Fuse-In (2005) and currently, Movement: Detroit's Electronic Music Festival (2006) continued the DEMF's traditions, with each name change reflecting shifts in festival management. All of these festivals featured performances by musicians and DJs, and emphasized the progressive qualities of the culture surrounding electronic music.
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[edit] History
The first Detroit Electronic Music Festival was held in 2000, based on an initial idea by Carl Carl who discussed and brought in Carol Marvin and her company Pop Culture Media to help him actualize the event. Marvin had previously been a sponsorship organizer for the Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival and Detroit-Montreux Jazz Festival, and was also a producer of the 1993 Michigan State Fair.
The DEMF was intended to give Detroit and its overlooked history of electronic music major exposure both locally and nationally. Patterned on high-profile dance music festivals that Craig had often played in Europe, the DEMF had free admission and attracted many international attendees.
Each festival has been held at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit, and has been sanctioned and financially supported by the City of Detroit. The city's support for the festival has been seen by many as the first high-profile acknowledgement and celebration of the city as the birthplace of techno music.
[edit] 2000: Successful launch
The first festival occurred in May 2000 and concluded with few hitches and no reported crime. It was applauded by city leaders and tourism officials as an injection of youthful energy into the city.
Attendance at the first DEMF surpassed expectations, with estimates over the three-day run surpassing one million visitors. Subsequent festivals drew even bigger crowds. City officials and others including media observers and local businesses saw the apparent economic boost to the city, with the Visitors and Convention Bureau stating that in only its second year, the event had pumped over $90 million into the local economy.
[edit] 2001–2002: DEMF growth and controversy
In the festival's second year and beyond, there was a veritable explosion of techno music events around Detroit,[citation needed] with many independently organized and impromptu parties packing area clubs and makeshift venues early into each morning.
Controversy ensued when Carol Marvin fired Craig for, quote "not fulfilling the terms of his contract." The majority of festival attendees were any upset at his dismissal and staged actions at the festival with banner saying "We Support Carl Craig." If anything Craig had simply been too trusting of someone (Marvin) who he expected to act in good faith. Instead she acted out of turn which led to unsavory law suits between Craig and Marvin. The sad thing is this tainted the impact of the festival and added a cloud around it. Sadly many of the good intents of Craig where destroyed by the actions of Marvin who simply didn't see the bigger picture of where the controversy would end up. Though she owns the trademark DEMF she lost the respect of a number of people in the electronc music industry. Craig's name and reputation had been an undeniable draw and asset to the festival from the get go. As well as really being entirely his concept, it was Craig's unique vision that gave the festival a very unique vibe. Craig didn't try to book the people with new albums, he booked tons of unknown and new Detroit talent (with people like Dabrye getting their first big gig thanks to him) and also brough in different talent from overseas. Craig booked people based on their music. If it was good they were in. Innovative and unusual, the mix worked really well. No festival since has ever had as great a line-up as the first 2 years when Craig was behind the selection process.
Subsequent producers of the event, Derrick May (Movement), Kevin Saunderson (Fuse-In) and Paxahau did not bring the same crowds as the opening event but have attempted to keep the spirit of the festival alive.
[edit] 2003–2004: Movement
In January 2003, city officials decided to place the event in the hands of popular techno artist Derrick May, who had extensive experience as a touring DJ but no firsthand, large-scale festival production experience.
The second Movement festival took place in 2004, but despite its public success, the event faced significant financial losses and its fate became uncertain
[edit] 2005: Fuse-In
In February 2005, May announced his resignation as festival producer, and the festival once again changed hands. Fellow techno veteran Kevin Saunderson announced plans for a Movement replacement to be called Fuse-In Detroit (later shortened to just Fuse-In, with the tagline "Detroit's Electronic Movement") to be staged Memorial Day Weekend 2005.
Successful negotiations with city officials led to 2005 becoming the first year that an event in Hart Plaza did not have free admission. A total of 41,220 admission passes were sold to Fuse-In visitors. 38,382 daily passes were sold for $10 each, and 2,838 weekend passes, covering the full three days, were sold for $25 each. The City of Detroit collected $1 per pass, and was to have collected 30% of festival profits, but admission pass sales did not recoup the festival's $756,000 budget. [1]
[edit] 2006: Movement
On February 16, 2006, Kevin Saunderson announced that due to financial losses and lack of sufficient promotion, he would not continue to produce the festival in 2006. As of March 23, the city has chosen Paxahau of Ferndale, MI, a suburban Detroit-based electronic record label and booking agency, to produce the festival under the name "Movement, Detroit’s Electronic Music Festival." According to Paxahau their selection has been supported by Saunderson, May, and Craig. Though none but May's endorsement has been confirmed. Conspicuously, techno creator/originator Juan Atkins has yet to give a statement regarding the festival. pa
The Festival happened agan in May 27 2006 and was successfull enough that it is already confirmed to occur again in 2007
2006 Lineup included
- Photek, UK jungle DJ
- Pascal F.E.O.S., German techno DJ
- Derrick Carter, Chicago house music DJ/producer
- Rob Acid, German acid techno producer
- Ark, minimal techno DJ/producer and first-time visitor to Detroit
- Josh Wink, techno DJ/producer
- The Orb, ambient dub producers
- Greenskeeper, house music band
- Tortured Soul, house music band
- Alex Under, Spanish minimal techno artist
- Mark Broom, British techno DJ/producer
- Pantytec, vastly popular German techno act
- Planet of the Drums, U.S. jungle DJ/MC ensemble
- Krikor, French minimal techno artist
- Ronin Selecta/Matt Clarke/Teddy MC/MC Flow, Detroit D&B Heroes
- Superpitcher, German techno artist/DJ
- Richie Hawtin, Detroit/Windsor/Berlin techno artist/DJ
- Collabs: Speedy J/Chris Liebing, European hard techno duo
- Dandy Jack, Berlin techno artist
- Doc Martin, West Coast house music DJ/producer
- Roy Davis Jr., Chicago acid house DJ/artist
- Markus Guenter, German ambient/minimal techno artist
- Klimek, ambient live act
- Jay Haze, minimal techno artist
- Socks and Sandals, making their Detroit debut
- Adam Marshall, international techno DJ/producer
- Daniel Bell, Detroit minimal techno artist/DJ
- Jeremy Caulfield, Canadian techno DJ/producer
- Donald Glaude, West Coast DJ/producer
- Function and Regis, New York hard techno duo
- Neil Landstrumm, Veteran Techno producer from Scotland
- Jeremy Ellis, Detroit-native dance producer [Ubiquity]
- John Arnold, Detroit-native producer + DJ [Ubiquity]
- The Snowman
- DJ Godfather, Detroit Ghetto Tech DJ and producer
[edit] Attendance
Historically, attendance of events held in Hart Plaza has often been reported as being well in excess of the 14-acre venue's capacity of 40,000 people, even when crowds were counted by police and city officials. The reported attendance estimates for the electronic music festival were as follows:
- DEMF 2000: 1.1 to 1.5 million *
- DEMF 2001: 1.7 million *
- DEMF 2002: 1.7 million *
- Movement 2003: 630,000
- Movement 2004: 150,000 **
- Fuse-In 2005: 44,920 ***
* Based on visual estimates by police and city officials, and conceded by city officials in 2003 to be an overly generous estimate..
** Reported by police on May 30, 2005. [2]
*** 41,220 ticketholders, plus 3,700 DJs, VIPs, and press, reported by The Detroit News and The Detroit Free Press on June 2, 2005. [3] [4]
