Detroit Movement 2003 Dance Music Fest
I will be there with Hot Wax staff members DJ-at-Large Taigo, Valerie and DJ Trebor promoting HW and HW2. Look for us in our HW T-Shirts for info and written materials on the show.
This year however, the fourth year of the festival, the DEMF name has been replaced with the title Movement 2003. The name change is an attempt to signal a break with the bitter politics that have tarnished the festival for the last two years.
Originally organized by Detroit-based DJ Carl Craig in 2000, the music festival began earning a controversial reputation after Pop Culture Media, a corporate event production company, took full creative control of the festival in 2001 and 2002...
Two weeks prior to the 2001 festival, Pop Culture director Carol Marvin fired Craig, who many regarded as the heart and soul of the festival. A web page representing the group La Resistance Detroit! sprung up immediately. La Resistance became a locus around which people were rallied to support Craig. Many were inspired to wear "I Support Carl Craig" stickers at the 2001 festival. A large "DEMF = Carl Craig" banner was unfurled. Much of the Detroit techno scene united into a boycott of the festival so long at Pop Culture Media remained in creative control.Many were disturbed with the rapid corporate take-over of a festival that had its roots in the underground Detroit techno scene. Ford Motor Co. helped sponsor the 2001 festival and became the prime example of how images of corporate sponsorship were becoming ubiquitous at the festival. Pop Culture Media acquiesced to Ford's demands that several Ford Focus cars be placed at the festival entrance. Many were confused as to whether they were attending a techno fest or the Detroit Auto Show. More confusing however were the not-so-subtle Ford logos that swam through all the video art at the fest. The line drawn between art and advertisement was blurred.
The controversy surrounding Pop Culture Media continued as many felt that the DEMF 2002 line-up was not adequately representative of the Detroit techno scene which had inspired the festival's creation.
The festival this year hopes to break with the negativity that has surrounded the past two DEMFs. Detroit techno DJ Derrick May has taken control over the festival following disappointment over Pop Culture's festival management. May has stated that this year the festival will be put "back in the artist's hands." May says he has taken control of the festival not for any financial gain (he has invested $90,000 of his personal funds) but "because I think it's important for the city, and the music scene in Detroit." Hopefully the festival will reflect this sincerity.
Movement 2003 has the potential to be a more Detroit-centric and less corporate festival - qualities which will certainly increase its enjoyability. This year the line-up is comprised primarily of Detroit and Michigan -based artists. The separation between a "main stage" and a sub-section of secondary stages has been eliminated. There is no single "main stage" this year. This will likely contribute to a transference of the festival's focus from "star" acts to a more holistic focus on the festival itself, in its totality.
