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This was the ninth year I've gone to DEMF and the difference that has been made since Paxahau started running the event is unbelievable.
When the festival was first starting it was good but far less organized and the quality of talent often times lacking. After a few years of different organizers and losing lots of money they changed it from a free festival to the format they have now where you can get a weekend pass for 40 bucks. Best bargain I've had in the dance music scene in a long time. The quality of talent they bring in and level of production at the stages is absolutely top notch.
The organization of talent on the stages, getting into the festival, handling the crowd, and quality of sound and staging all makes the festival very easy to enjoy.
More so than anything this party is about the atmosphere that exists there all weekend. While the tunes are top notch, they for once are secondary to the party vibe that exists in Hart Plaza, which is one of the better electronic music venues I've ever been to.
Five stages situated in the middle of Detroit's impressive skyline right on the Detroit river. Each one of the stages has an area to get up close to the dj for some more intensified dancing, or equally as accessible areas where you can literally sit on a blanket having a picnic in perfect sight of the dj and no loss in sound quality.
To add to the quality of the festival itself, the variety in personality types attending the festival make it one of the more interesting places to hang out. The people I saw this year literally ranged from young babies dancing in their cribs to 75 year old hippies, with tad of girls in furry boots and guys in track and field style unitards in between.
The Beatport stage stole the show this weekend. Consistently over the weekend I'd walk around the festival and end up right back at the Beatport tent because the tunes were just better there than anywhere else.
Highlights for sure were Paco Osuna, and the Lee Burridge, Josh Wink, Dubfire combo to close the Beatport stage on Monday night. Richie was in no means a disappointment but not as good as last year. Booka Shade was an absence that I felt this year but catching bits of Mark Farina and Speedy J was another example of how the production levels were increasing this year. Moby was interesting to watch on Saturday night. He was playing much more banging techy stuff than he did in the Kool Haus and was climbing around the stage jumping around. It was good for a while but did get repetitive.
This year I chose not to do any afterpartying and that is honestly the wisest decision I could have made. The festival is very draining being in the sun on your feet for three long days in a row. Being outdoors at the stages last year was so much more fun that the afterparties that this year I wanted to save my energy for enjoying the daytime and I was really thankful to have done that.
This year was a totally different experience for me from having a completely different group of people there, but was equally as enjoyable.
Already looking forward to next year.
Missed you at this one BIG time Lil G!!
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Check out more of my ramblings at:
http://thedailyuniverse.blogspot.com/
Where Are The Tunes?
Good things happen to good people
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