Originally posted by KStuff
Great forum, you guys really know your stuff. I look forward to discovering new DJs and parties. Cheers!
Welcome :)
Glad you enjoyed your first DEMF.
Knox
I am still trying to formulate my thoughts around what I experienced this past weekend at DEMF.
I can start by saying it was an incredible experience full of randomness and amazing music all weekend long.
Work is sucking and I wanna go back.
The Highroller
quote:
Originally posted by MissK
After reading my review it sounds like I had a time, which is actually not the case. I had a great time. Nothing compared to previous years, is the point I was trying to make. I think it's time to take a demf break and hit it up in a couple years.
I'll probably give it a break next year too and finally hit up Mutek. If you keep doing the same thing year after year, you won't appreciate it as much. Plus, there are other things to spend your money on.
sweetcaroline
First time at DEMF. Everything about the festival blew me away.
Music during festival: I acted like I had ADD the whole trip. I had a list of "must see" DJs, but I would forget they were playing. I'd get completely absorbed in a DJ and forget that another DJ I wanted to see was spinning elswewhere. I completely missed Plastikman b/c I had in my head that he'd close the festival. D'oh. But here are the highlights, I did see...
Sat:
Onur Ozer --> Ida Engberg --> Jamie Jones --> Paco Osuna --> Marco Carola --> Claude von Stroke. No Plastikman b/c I was stupid.
I was so happy to see each of these DJs. I think my favorite of the day was Jamie Jones, but I was blissed out during Ozer & Paco. Fun to watch the guys cream their panties during Ida's set.
Sunday was not my favorite day, but I enjoyed everything I heard. Cassy was my favorite of the day.
Mon:
ItaloBoyz ---> dOP ---> Agoria (quick stop to dance around) ---> DJ Koze ---> Drumcell (quick stop to hear sound) ---> Magda ---> Chris Liebing
Monday was great in every way, except for DJs I wanted to see overlapping. Was up front for Italoboyz & dOP, which made experience more fun. dOP had this eclectic sound layered with vodka-infused antics. It was frustrating, but fun stage hopping to catch different DJs. Wish I didn't have to divide my attention btw Liebing & Magda, who were both amazing. In the women's restroom during Magda, the entire line starting dancing when Magda dropped an amazing track. Funny that one of my favorite music moments was in a bathroom.
Danced in the mud quite a bit that day. I'm amazed that I didn't fall into the glop.
Afterparties:
I made a lot of errors with choosing afterparties, but I didn't care that much because it was my first time. Drumcode blew out my right ear as I was against a speaker the whole time. Vain was packed, but somehow I could still dance in there. Got a good dose of Carola, which sort of made up for not seeing Beyer. I should have gone to I Love You..., but I was too tired.
The Boat - I had the same experience everybody else did. Sound was terrible & I ended up spending most of my time on the 1st floor. But I did like relaxing on the decks talking to people.
Old Miami - This party delivered. Got there at 10 am and stayed till 2:30 pm. The combo dive bar & backyard party was exactly what I needed. Bar lines were slow, but I didn't care. Gave me a chance to sober up and enjoy Hart Plaza later.
I didn't make it to any of the amazing afterparties on Monday night. I knew it was foolish to miss them, but I already decided to go to DEMF in 2011 and thought I'd save up my strength for next year.
:p
Detroit: I had part of Friday and all day Tuesday to see Detroit. I wandered around the city quite a bit and people were surprised I skipped cabs to walk places. The city was deserted and depressed, but wasn't scary to me at all. I used to live in the Midwest (Chicago) and it was refreshing to be among people who were so friendly. I think I must have chatted with at least a dozen native Detroit folks while I was there. Detroit and Philly have a lot in common in that they are poorer cities in the shadows of the larger cities of NYC & Chicago.
I checked out the Motown Museum, which should be on your must visit list. I was in rapture while I was there, especially since I majored in African-American history in college. Berry Gordy ran Tamla/Motown out of his home & they were running their multi-million dollar business on a kitchen table. And while these artists were the most popular in the world, they traveled in a school bus, dealt with Jim Crow laws, and once had their bus shot up in the deep South.
I have so many more stories, but so do you...I'll stop here.
The Highroller
quote:
Originally posted by sweetcaroline
In the women's restroom during Magda, the entire line starting dancing when Magda dropped an amazing track. Funny that one of my favorite music moments was in a bathroom.
Haha, that is awesome!
Glad you enjoyed your first DEMF.
Intangible
My first DEMF and what an adventure it was. I rarely attend techno events so I was a bit skeptical but I got the perfect combination of house and techno, familiar sounds and new sounds. I discovered so much. I can not wait for some of these DJs to come to toronto. I am soooo happy with the whole experience. Thank you to all who contributed to my weekend.
Friday
Travelling
We took the via train down to windsor and the tunnel bus over the boarder. The train ride was a breeze and with the seat sale Via was offering it was well worth the price. The trip down was full of excitement and sillyness as I polished off a bottle of wine and Geoff 4 tall boys of beer before we arrived in Windsor at 11:50 am. The tunnel bus was really easy and we had crossed the boarder and made it to our stop in just over half an hour. US customs was quick but intense. No sillyness tolerated there. We watched a two parents get handcuffed and dragged away as their children sat watching balling their eyes out.
The Westin
Such a beautiful hotel. Not that I travel much, but so far the nicest hotel I have stayed in. The staff were wonderful. We ended up getting upgraded to an executive suite which gave us tons of room for the needed rest times. And the room service brownie and icecream was to die for <3
Dearborn (aka Detroits Middle East): Shisha Shopping
After getting settled into our hotel we headed over to Dearborn to buy some shisha. We took a 15 minute cab ride to the Middle East. The area was pretty shady and it was the only time I felt a little unsafe. We stopped in a few different stores until we found our shisha heaven. Tons and tons of flavours all for SUPER cheap.
Yel3 - St. Andrews Hall
This was the official warm up party. There were 3 different rooms offering 3 VERY different experiences.
The basement - called the Shelter was AWESOME. It was like an awesome college bar (that actually played amazing music) with sexy red lights. Ryan Elliot and Matthew Dear played so well. It was so warm and smooth with a nice funky, groovy twist. I felt like I was wrapped around each bassline - I loved it - Ryan Elliot truly stole my heart that night. It was the perfect first set to hear and help truly open my mind to many different flavours of techno. Learning the history of this room later that weekend made the experience even more magical. It was one of the first residences for Richie Hawtin and also where Matthew Dear got a start to his career. Unfortunately this room had NO ventilation and became wayyyy to hot to enjoy.
The main room was like a concert hall - like a much bigger, cooler Mod Club. Speedy J was playing a 5 hour set that was relentless, non forgiving, and for me personally - far too abrasive. It was my first time seeing him and I do understand what the hype is all about but I just dont think he's mind kind of thing. I found as relentless as it was I was constantly getting lost in it. And I didnt want to dance THAT hard on the first night. I knew pacing myself throughout the weekend was more important. However the lighting was explosive and it was fun to stand on the above balcony and watch the craziness happen below. I loved feeling of the room.
In need of a break we wandered up to the 3rd room where Mathew Hawtin was playing some ambient tunes... It was... interesting... By no means am I an expert on the genre but I thought it was pretty bad. There were also only 15 people in the room and a really weak attempt for experimental visuals. However it was nice to sit and relax.
We headed back down to the Shelter and listened from around the corner. I loved the music, I am pretty sure it was Lee Curtiss, but not 100%. We left shortly after - it was far too hot and we were ready to rest for Day 1 of the festival.
Overall I LOVED the Venue. So much character. I loved how it truly felt like 3 different parties. I would love for Toronto to adopt a concept similar to this and have 3 promoters collaborate together to pull it off.
Saturday
Festival
We headed to the festival around 12:30 to find a pretty massive line for VIP will call. The line did move at a reasonable pace and sooner than later we were ready to head in and explore. Mathew Hawtin was at the Vitamin Water Stage warming up the festival with his ambient sound - felt appropriate for the time of day. We walked around the festival to get an understanding of the lay of the ground and to check out the vendors. I truly expected more corporate displays and was disappointed in the lack of cool tshirts to buy. I wasnt even a fan of any of the official movement shirts.
We stumbled upon a dress up tent and this was where my first magical demf moment happened. There was a huge collection of used clothing, fabrics, and accessories to create your own demf looks. The explorative vibe in that tent was a blast and I had soooo much fun playing with all the silly possibilities. Who ever was playing at the Torino Stage played a great soundtrack to our experience. We then left the festival for some food and rest.
Ida Engberg
I thought she played a decent set - much better than at Cobra last winter. Nothing special and she lost me a few times but it was still the perfect way to warm up my DEMF experience and great tunes for doing some dancing in the sunshine.
Jamie Jones
I'll quote myself from a couple weeks back "Who the heck is jamie jones? We can just skip him" - Geoff told me that I'd probably love him and that I should stick around for his set.... and he was right - I LOVED him! He incorporated every element of music that I love. A great groovy beat, melodies, instruments, funkyness. Even Techno Grandma was grooving away hard to him right beside me. I am glad I got to see her - she is truly inspiring. And it shows that age should never get in the way from what you are truly passionate about. This set was brilliant and I was smiling from ear to ear.
We took a little break for rest and relaxation. And then I returned to see who I now call the techno god...
Marco Carola
WOW!!! HOLY CRAP! WHAT THE ! THAT WAS AMAZING!!! This was my first time seeing Carola and I had pretty high expectations - so I was a little worried going into the set that he might disappoint me. And ... he blew me away! So hard and bouncy and just makes you want to dance dance dance. The energy was fierce, EVERYONE was loving it. I am not sure if a set has ever made me that happy before.
Plastikman
While I promised myself to go into every set completely open minded - this one I could not. I thought for sure it was going to be clickity clackity bleep bleep bloop techy annoying noises. I was so convinced I would hate it. This was another surprising set. It had a nice deep bassline that was was just enough to get me to do a bit of chair grooving. It was the perfect way to cool down after Carola destruction. I didn't love it, I hardly even liked it, and I would never go out of my way to see him again but it was a very interesting experience.The iPhone app made it interesting as well. It was crazy to watch the bpm go from 114 (which tended to be the average) and then rise up to the 900s and then fall to the 20s all within 10 or so seconds.
We had intentions to the Drumcode party just to see Marco Carola but once we got to the hotel and looked at the time we decided it made more sense to just rest so we could better enjoy the Blue Collar Showcase. Turned out the Drumcode party was shut down due to a shooting - so it seemed like fate that we didnt go.
I love you but I've Chosen Techno - The Works
We had no idea about set times except for that we ran into a a guy who ran the party at DEMF and he said that we should show up for 2:30 to ensure we catch Justin Martin and Konrad Black... and our timing couldnt have been better. We arrived around 2:15 to a huge non-moving line. After waiting around 30 minutes and not moving at all a guy comes up advertising that he found wristbands on the ground that he is selling for 10 dollars each. We were about sketched out by it and decided to hold off - a few people behind us bought them and the walked to the other side of the club to get in. After seeing they didnt return I prayed that the guy would come around with some more bands, and sure enough 5 minutes later he had another 2. They were used bands but we put them on and were able to skip the line and walk in (we also saved 20 bucks each on cover). The set times couldnt have been more perfect Konrad Black was 15 minutes away from going on, and Justin Martin was on shortly after Konrads set in the back room. The club was awesomely sketchy and eerie with black plastic covering all the walls. It felt dirty and cheap - I loved it (Im pretty sure I am the only person who felt that way)
Although I was so excited for Konrad Black he has the one set that isnt all the memorable now - and I think that is because he was over shadowed by Justin Martin. Regardless Konrad got my booty shaking and I had lots of fun dancing around to his set.
We caught the last 30 minutes of Claude Von Stroke and I was sooooo thrilled about it. Great energy. Please bring this guy back to Toronto on a weekend! (He always seems to get random weekday bookings). I so very badly wanted to hear him play Beat that Bird with a Bat... and recognized that there was a good chance he had already played it early... but NO! One of my favourite DEMF moments. This track gets a lot of play whenever Geoff and I hang out - so hearing it that night was magical. Absolutely love the silliness of the track. Justin Martin was almost like a religious experience for me. SOOOOOOO GOOD!!! I had no idea who he was or why Geoff was so excited about him - and WOW. I felt like I was taken over by a different person and just danced my heart away. I never realized techno could be so sweet, soulful, funky, groovy, and BOOTYSHAKING!
We stuck around until 6:06 to catch some of Seth Troxler and I was pretty impressed. Definitely can't wait for his return to Toronto.
This party was followed by me drinking a bottle of wine and 3 beers - then waking up to a MASSIVE hang over. lol.
Sunday
Festival
I was curious to see the Martinez Brothers but the hang over said no and didn't end up at the festival until 7ish. I had planned on giving Cassy a bit of a chance because I knew I was going to get a full Sneak experience on the boat. Went over for a bit and wasn't really digging it.
Headed over to the Vitamin Water stage to see what was going on and Sneak would not let me leave. OH MY GOD WOW! First time seeing him and it was one of the most magical experiences of all of demf. We ended up meeting the most amazing people in the tent we were dancing in and we all danced and laughed the night away. Sneak played the perfect soundtrack to all of our magical shenanigans. Hearing him drop Music is my Life almost put me in tears <3 Such a happy moment. Derrick Carter came on and continued the magic. I didn't like him as much as sneak, he seemed to be a little less housey but still... <3 So much energy. The vibe was unreal. I was in complete disbelief.
For the last 3 months I have been super pumped for Inner City and they did not disappoint. Such and epic epic set. Hearing Big City made my night complete. Good Life also made the whole crowd go off like crazy. We were all going insane dancing around non stop. Watching the crowd below and feeling its energy was incredible. It was great that it was a live performance - and you could feel the appreciation all around for how iconic and important to music history this group is.
The Boat
For me one of the best parts of the boat ride was the people I met. I met an an older couple from detroit and they shared the history of the Detroit Music Scene. Some of their stories were inspiring, shocking, and horrifying but they really helped me build a even better appreciation for the city, the DJs, and the festival. We also randomly met a fellow tota/mtlta - proving how small the world can be (Hi Chris!). Checked out Marco Carola b2b with Richie Hawtin... It was pretty good but the sound kept cutting out which ruined a lot of the magic. I really appreciated what a rare opportunity it was to experience that - however Marcos DEMF set was much better. Headed upstairs for some Sneak and Carter action. Seemed to have missed most of Sneak... Carter was playing an okayish set. Played a few really great tracks. Vibe was decent. But all in all the boat was my least favourite party. The boat hardly even left the dock... it was the shortest boat ride of my life. The rooms felt so empty, dark,and bleh. The boat was HUGE... bigger than I could have ever imagined... but it made the floors feel like giant rooms instead of being on a boat. Everything I like about a boat cruise wasn't there. I just wish they would have thrown the same party but in a building. On top of all that I wasn't feeling so great - so I left at 4.
Sunday
Old Miami
Soooooo much hype for this event and I wasn't overly blown away. I was pretty exhausted and my abs were in more pain than I have ever experienced before that I just had a hard time getting really into it. It was fun to run around and play a bit. Anywhere that I can be a kid is fun for me. My favourite was Star who decorated everyone in Star stickers. She was so dedicated and focused on her creations. For the most part is wasnt nearly as sketchy as I imagined and it wasnt as magical as I thought it could have been. I thoroughly enjoyed grooving around, eating my popcorn, and watching all the event unfold around me. Cribby said it looked like I was watching a movie - and that's exactly how I felt. The music was okay. Good at sometimes, meh at others. For awhile I felt like I had been listening to the same thing forever. I didn't see any of the DJs I wanted to see. But it was fun to see everyone. The loved the outfits some of the TAs wore. We left just after 2, just as the rain started lightly fall down. And apparently not too long before the firemarshalls cleared it out. Great timing on our end.
Festival/Hurricane DEMF
Getting out of the cab we were blown away (my hat literally blew down the street) by the biggest gusts of wind I have ever experienced. We were pelted by sand and rocks. It was dreadful. The security guard was a jerk and wouldnt let me bring my blanket into the festival (although i saw tons of blankets at the festival other days) so we had to hide it in a near by bush. When reentering the festival all of a sudden we hear MOVE MOVE GET OUT OF THE WAY. COME THIS WAY!!! As I look behind and see the main gate falling on top of us and 20 cops doing everything they could to hold it up. The festival was dead, there was no music except for the underground stage. We walked around trying to figure everything out. Soon after we were all told that everyone must go underground, that a lightning storm was approaching and we were not safe. The Made in Detroit Stage was alright - found the sad was pretty bad. I enjoyed the adventure of the storm for a bit, but tiredness and body pain were kicking in and it's all I could do to find the energy to stick around and hope ItaloBoyz would play. The storm lightened up and we headed to the beatport stage to see them setting up. We couldnt ask for better luck ItaloBoyz only started their set a few minutes late.
The ItaloBoyz set was like the rainbow after the storm. The sun came out strong and hot and their set started off with a very wicked laugh. I loved the energy of these guys. This was by far my favourite set to dance to. The second half of their set was like a marching band explosion. So much bootyshaking and crazy silly dancing. I was sooooo in love. I really hope to see these guys get booked in Toronto.
We took a much needed break and went back to the hotel. It was really hard for me to find the energy to want to go back to the festival for the last few sets. They sky was gloomy and my body wanted to quit. But we had 7 drink tickets to finish and I did not want to miss Model 500.
Back at the festival I desperately needed to sit so I chilled out to Stacey Pullen who didn't do anything too special. Better than what I recall a few years back, but seemed really generic. Kenny Larkin was not my thing at all. I tried to give him a fair chance but I felt like their were two many different things going on and I just couldnt get into it. It didnt help that sound was horribly pitchy. We headed to the bar tent to work on polishing off some drinks where we met a man with the best mustache ever, witnessed a guy do the best face plant ever, and bonded with Ron - a guy who worked their who had so much soul. Model 500 was INCREDIBLE to watch. I'm not exactly sure who was who but I loved guy on the mics interaction with the crowd and his ability to truly take control. Like Inner City this performance created such an epic vibe and I could not imagine a better way of closing out the festival. They did one techno/hip hop track - i missed the intro of exactly what it was - but it was AWESOME. Alcohol started to seriously kick in as new friends gave us their left over drink tickets. Tipping our bar tender well meant that singles were now double and doubles... were a cup full of liquor. We didn't want to leave the festival, we caught the last 30 seconds of Chris Liebing and then the last 30 seconds of Book a Shade... it was fun to watch all the stages close down and all the people leave. Our walk home involved me interviewing a candy raver, and one random drunk conversation after another. It felt like such an epic way to end such an adventurous/magical weekend.
A few other things
- VIP was well worth the money and more in my opinion. I found the crowd to be so super friendly, talkative, mature... I loved all the tented 'booth' like areas along the main stage. It was really nice to always have a place to sit and rest. We always danced/sat in one that offered a great view of the stage and crowd. It always had just the right amount of people in there. And soooo much magic happened in that little tent. The washrooms were clean, hardly ever a line, and instantly made me happy I had VIP. Drinks were a whole different story. Between the two of us we had 15 alcoholic drink tickets and 12 water/vitamin water tickets. We were given more the last day. The mixed vitamin water drinks were soooooo good - having them super strong made them even better. We loved our bar tender - she loved us back. The adventures we had in the VIP are were some of my favourites of the whole festival. Plus the deal we got on our Westin hotel room paid for VIP alone.
- I was blown away by how cheap cabs are in detroit. I am glad we read online before hand to always make sure they turn on the meter or negotiate a price before hand. But every trip we made I always thought 'oh wow that was cheap'
- The food situation in Detroit was tough. There was almost nothing to eat in the city, nothing was ever open unless you want cooney island hotdogs or 99 cent toacos. We ate at Lafyette Cooney Island once - it was.... alright. Not my thing at all. We did learn of Sloans (or Slows?) bbq. at the end of the festival - apparently its amazing and will definitely check it out next time I go.
- I loved the city. I rarely felt unsafe. The building were all so beautiful. Yet it was creepy how dead and abandoned the core was. Returning to Toronto I laughed because of how busy it was on a regular tuesday evening - without a massive festival.
- The people of detroit were sooooo nice and friendly. They were so willing to share stories about their lives, believes, music, the scene. They really helped add to my experience. All the locals went out of their way to help us when needed.
- Hart plaza... WHAT AN AMAZING VENUE. Looking at pictures before I had a hard time getting it. But it so nice, the right size, I love how all the areas connect, and all the areas to chill and relax.
- The searches at all locations were so weak. Although I learned later all they were looking for were guns.
The winners are:
Best Stage: Vitamin Water Stage - Hearing Plastikman, Sneak, Derrick Carter, Inner City, and Model 500 from our magical tent was full of so many wins.
Best Venue: St.Andrews Hall.
Best discovery: Jamie Jones (although Justin Martin is pretty close behind)
Best Set: Marco Carola @ DEMF
Best Set to Dance to: ItaloBoyz
Favourite After Party: I love you but I've Chosen Techno
She_Fitz
I had a great time and am very happy I went.
Friends were definitely the highlight for me. Festivals like this provide Bobby and I the opportunity to see our friends from all over the US and Canada.
Spending time with friends took priority so it limited my ability to see and experience new things.
Ben Klock, Cassy, Barem and Liebing were my highlights.
Old Miami was great but too packed around 1ish. I was happy the rain cleared out a number of people and it was more enjoyable after that happened.
My mission for the weekend was to meet Bigsnail a TA from Dallas. We have been to a number of the same parties over the last 4 years and have never met. I was finally succesful. :)
I had a great weekend all around.
The Highroller
Although I would agree that there were less antics than expected at Old Miami, if you want there to be antics, cause some! Get it started.
I found that was the problem with the party. Everyone was waiting around for it to happen, but no one wanted to be the first to get ridiculous.
I experienced enough antics at the party, but that was mainly from my random ridiculous conversations I started with strangers. I was entertaining myself all day, haha
slingshot
quote:
Originally posted by The Highroller
Although I would agree that there were less antics than expected at Old Miami, if you want there to be antics, cause some! Get it started.
HAH?!
ps. there were definitely some antics were I was sitting for a few hours at old miami, that's for sure.
The Highroller
Some dubstep madness from Excision
Retarded switch from D&B to dubstep:
Fastforward to about 35s:
The Highroller
quote:
Originally posted by slingshot
HAH?!
Skipper
Did the book of bad ideas make an appearance at Old Miami?
