Originally posted by Jayx1
it was more like the preparty LOL
Epic!
either post a proper review or as a Conservative would say :
STFU!
lool
basilisk
The best stretch of music I heard all weekend was Heartthrob, Gaiser, Marc Houle, and Richie Hawtin on the Beatport stage on Saturday. A lot of the rest was merely educational. I have never been one to go out of my way to see big name DJs so it was my first time hearing pretty much everyone at the festival. Few of the big name sets really impressed me much... seems like these guys like to play it safe for the most part. Then again, I was told over and over again that the festival sets are just a tease and you really need to go to the afterparties to really appreciate what the top names are all about. Fair enough, I suppose, although I still don't see why they wouldn't take more risks on stage. It isn't like the kids won't eat it up! :D
Most amusing set: Ricardo Villalobos. Is this guy Frankie Wilde or what? Apart from the hostility with the sound guy (who was totally justified in getting on his case about red lining the out of the system), picking that piece of fluff off the needle, nearly losing it on the guy who bumped the table (causing the record to skip), killing and replaying another record for no reason I was able to discern, strutting around on stage jabbing his nipples into the air, and other stage antics, the music was actually kind of fun. Samba! Still, it's tough to really enjoy when the music is so heavily distorted. I had the same issue with parts of Sven Vath and Richie's sets... is there some unspoken rule that the techno gods need to crank it at the expense of sound quality? Are they all deaf or something?
I did my best to check out all the stages and sample different acts (figuring that I wouldn't otherwise go out of my way to see some of these big names). Some of the bass music sounded really good but it was difficult to find a good spot to enjoy it. The Detroit stage seemed most authentic and much of the music I heard there had a classic flavour. Didn't spend too much time in the underground as the amount of smoke made my eyes water and the acoustics weren't great. Still, it was the perfect environment to sample Monolake Surround even if I didn't get into it for very long.
Anyhow, I was totally entertained by people watching at this event. Never been to such a massive event... let alone one held in the hollowed out shell of a dying metropolis. The apocalyptic tone of the city was nicely accentuated by all the jesus freaks picketing the event outside. Wasn't the rapture a week ago?
Next time I go I would probably get a one day pass and spend more time exploring the afterparties. There were a few good acts I was keen on catching but promoters were not forthcoming with time slots... and I'm not about to pay $35 to go to a 24 hour long party with 40 DJs when I don't know when the the guy I want to see is going to be on. Nah, I'd be totally content with the vibe at a place like Old Miami (which I did drop in on for about an hour). Not sure who was spinning and it didn't matter; that place had the right tunes and the right vibe for the moment.
I can say with certainty that I've never been to an event like DEMF. Over-hyped and commercialized but still thoroughly enjoyable with lots of top talent and interesting people... it's worth checking out, though it might not be my first pick for festivals to travel to in the future.
progbeatz
The festival was prob best festival i have been to ever and def felt like it had Heart in it...not that whole Corporate feel to it at all and commodities like water and food were def fairly priced!..Too many Reviews for one period of festival but eventually will get around to it! The one Afterparty that was sick was the M.A.N.D.Y./Get physical/Leftroom party.....The main room had a sickkkkkkkkk sound system with these crazy speakers they brought in that looked like Cones and was justvsick sounding...and Mandy def rippid it apart!!! i must say thought that i really wasnt impressed with Craig Richarda...boring and no Tansitions whatsoever...ended up seeing again at The Old miami party and he was awlful again...just couldnt get into him
mickmack
amazing weekend! even better then last year. i took a load of videos so i don't have time to upload them all... here are a few.
nadezhda
I love Detroit! LOVE IT. I can't wait until next year.
SATURDAY
Festival: We got into D-town around 3:30 and went on our annual ritual of picking up pizza at the bullet-proof Little Caesar's and mix/liquorbooze at the Food Stamps store. It's tradition! Had to wait until our other friends arrived, as my friend and I were staying in a different hotel with them.
Arrived at the festival around 6:30 just as it started to rain and experienced a line-up show of epic proportions. Holy disorganization! Luckily, friends of ours who went in already had texted us the lay of the land, and where to actually get in line to pick up tickets. I had REALLY wanted to see Heartthrob, but unfortunaly, I only managed to get there in time for the last 10 min of his set. Bah! Wandered around, got rained on, and caught Gaiser, Visionquest and Richie. Also had my first corn dog of the year. YUM.
Afterparty: Had tix for both Circo Loco and CLR. The friend that I was going to go to Circo Loco with wasn't feeling up for going out, so I decided to go to CLR with my roommates. Shame I missed seeing Cassy at the other party, but I'm super glad I ended up at CLR. At first upon walking in, I was like "oh no, I'm going to hate it", but I took refuge on my own in the basement where Radioslave and Marcel Dettmann were playing back to back and proceeded to lose my . I loved it down there, it was small and dark and intimate and the music was fantastic. Plus, I had a close perving vantage point for Marcel. Always an added bonus. Was sad when it ended at 4 am.
SUNDAY
Hit up an architectural tour of Detroit. I was really looking forward to learning more about all the amazing empty buildings around downtown and it was super interesting. Not so awesome being hungover whilst touring, but I'm really glad I went. There's so much more I'd like to see. Tour of 8 Mile next year?
On our way back, we found out there was a tornado warning for Detroit. Awesome! Didn't want to pull a Dorothy, so waited at the hotel for a while before heading outside.
FESTIVAL: Sunday night was what I was most excited for. Arrived in time for Ricardo. MEH! He left me underwhelmed again. Really? This is what all the fuss is about?
Made the executive decision to skip Sven Vath and Loco Dice and stay undergound for the rest of the night at the Torino stage for Ben Klock and Marcel Dettmann and I'm so glad I did. Ben Klock was ing amazing. Probably my favourite set of the entire weekend. Marcel was a close second. Got dragged away against my will in the last 10 minutes for Carl Craig.
AFTERPARTY: Went to Get Physical, can't really tell you what the music was like, we were mostly just being ridiculous. The venue was really cool though.
MONDAY
The sun finally shone! It was gorgeous out.
Old Miami: Didn't get there until around 1:00 and had to wait in line for nearly an hour. That was not so much fun. Had the best cab driver ever though. He was blasting hip hop and shouting along to it and getting proper into it and then he tried to sell us weed from another car that he pulled up alongside. It was hilarious. Only in Detroit! Stayed for about 2 hours, met some cool people, had some good times. I'd like to get there earlier next year, must remember to set my alarm on the Monday morning.
Festival: I knew this was going to be the day (like each Monday for the last two years) where I wander around and try to find something I like. This year was no different. Unfortunately missed Art Department, since I fell asleep and woke up too late. Tried out Dubfire, but he was boring me. Went over to Beatport, but that was boring. Sat and people watched. Went down to Torino for Shlomi Aber and he was okay, but then James Zabiela came on and it got more crowded and super hot, so I had to escape, plus I'm not his biggest fan. Victor Calderone was better than I thought he'd be, but again wasn't really feeling it. When Adam Beyer came on, I finally felt like staying in one spot for the first time all night. He saved Monday! He was amazing! I've never been super into him before, but that was a great way to end off the festival and I loved every minute of his set.
Also, maybe this wasn't the best idea in the world, but I walked back to my hotel from my friends' hotel at 3 am alone. I did make them promise I wouldn't get gangbanged on the way back, but it was surprisingly not too scary and I lived to tell the tale. I have no probs walking around Toronto alone, but everyone talks like you're going to die the second you step out your door in Detroit, so I was kinda creeped out.
DEMF 2011: The event where I got my mojo back. Every event I've gone to in the past year I've ended up sort of shuffling around and socializing, but not really dancing cos the music just never really does it for me. Not so this past weekend! It was so nice to finally just ing DANCE. I needed that desperately. I've also come to the conclusion that I am really just not that into house anymore. Bring on the techno, bitches! :D
samhouse
quote:
Originally posted by chinamon
the complex will be split for two events: all ages and 19+. they will be separate events.
koolhaus and orange room will be all ages. guvernment, gallery, the drink and skybar will be 19+. i really doubt fatboy slim will be in the koolhaus since he is listed as playing the 19+ event.
that is news to me..but terrific news. Honestly with him I thought they would put him in the KoolHaus cuz he might be such a huge draw.
I guess i shouldn't have assumed.
london_ta
I am to lazy to write a proper review.
-DEMF has become all about friends for me. I wasn't running around aiming to hear any DJ's this year. I missed a lot of sets I really wanted to hear (Ben Klock, Gaiser & Soul Clap) I guess I could blame that on not having a schedule the whole weekend.
-Next year I've decide I won't be staying @ The Marriott Renaissance. It seems like the walk of shame when you have to walk 5 mins through that building all sweaty. Also, this year they gave wrist bands for everyone staying in the hotel (max 4 per room, of course we tried to have 6 in a room lol).
-The Circo Loco party was a F'N madhouse to try and get into at 2 am. If you had a ticket you were still told to wait in the back of the line. After being inside for 30 mins I decided to head back for a break until 9 am. Circo Loco's vibe was off the walls when I got back from 9am til noon.
-Old Miami was and will always be my fav after party @ DEMF. It was blazing hot, super fun, slow groovy tunes, however it was much claimer then it normally is. I didn't really catch to many zonked farm animals on the dance floor. I actually stuck around until 6 pm to finally see some degenerates come out to play.
-The Hot Natured party (magna, lee foss, jamie jones) had to be the hottest party I've ever been too. I walked in thinking the venue was perfect for this type of party. The women were sexy, but after a few hours the venue became STEAMING HOT HOT HOT! It felt like 5 hours of hot yoga on that dance floor. It seemed like the building was missing an A/C unit, or it went off around 1 am. Not to mention the technical difficulties and having to take an elevator from 6th floor to 1st to smoke. BIG FAIL!
-Ended the weekend off with the Dubfire after party... ran out of that club shortly after they turned the lights on (although Dubfire wasn't stopping the music for anyone).
NOTES:
-DJ tINI was my favorite set @ DEMF. This women can bring a f'n vibe.
-Art Department had two of the worst sets of the weekend (at demf & at hot natured). I am pissed off I had to sit through two of there unattached, slow, boring sets. Those two hooligans are horrible at bringing any vibe. Congrats Art Department of your success lol.
-Seth Troxler @ Circo Loco was the best set out of all the sets i heard outside of DEMF. Not only does he know how to rock your sox off. Seth has this presence that screams... R U for real, WOW??
To sum up DEMF - MOVEMENT Festival
HOLY CRAP I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!
kotsy
My first DEMF was absolutely fantastic! I'm going to try my hardest to go every year
:eyes: :eyes: :eyes:
Special K
Very happy with my first DEMF experience. I'd prob change some things next time around but on the whole no real complaints from me. Quality weekend of music and vibes from the festival / afterparties with Hot Natured being the highlight of the weekend for me.
Loved the music / crowd / venue / vibe up in that place!!!
:toocool:
The Highroller
Here's my shorter than normal review:
Saturday:
- Started the day off late due to BS from the Marriot Ren Cen (see below)
- Caught Kerri Chandler who played a really good set, and had everyone smiling and bouncing around with the start-of-festival electricity in the air.
- It was raining but it didn't seem to matter to anyone. Note to self: bring umbrella next time
- Visionquest played a decent set, but I was socializing for most of the time
- Tried to get to the main area of the Red Bull Stage for Skrillex: big mistake. Think how packed the Guv main room gets but quite a bit worse. Add the DJ deciding to play "Move Bitch, Get Out the Way". I think I saw my life flash before my eyes. The DJ actually had to turn the music off and tell everyone to stop trampling people. I moved to the side and enjoyed about 30 minutes of his set. Cheesy dubstep, yes, but fun tunes and fun crowd.
- Richie Hawtin continues to suck. I caught a bit of him before Skrillex, and then went back afterward and it sounded like the same track.
Sunday:
I woke up at around 8 or 9 with texts telling me to go to Circo Loco. I had no ticket and no plans to go, but I was already up and had nothing else to do. What a great idea that was!
I arrived to Tale of Us playing in the main room and Visionquest playing on the terrace playing to a crowd of grooving people on an absolutely perfect sunny morning. I enjoyed Visionquest's set at Circoloco more than the festival. Seth Troxler stood out from the group with fresh sounding tracks that you don't really hear anyone else. After a couple of hours of harder edged techier stuff, Ryan Crosson (who had been the worst of out the group up until this point) came on for the final 30-45 mins of the set and catapulted the crowd into sun-fuelled bliss with this track:
We tried to get the "get down, jump up" thing going, and it only worked to an extent. Ryan continued to play happy, vocal house music for the rest of the set, which was just perfect for the weather. It was during this time that everyone on the patio was getting down, including the head of security (who was front-row centre), bar staff and barbacks. The head of security put all the patio umbrellas, telling us that there had been rain for 5 days straight, and that it was now time to enjoy the sun. How awesome is that? The entire staff of this club was just having the time of their life.
During Visionquest, and after they finished, I went inside to see Tale of Us, and WOW. I can't even describe the stuff these guys were playing. Chuggy, slowed down, brain melting music, on the best sound system I heard during the whole festival:
(Think of these songs, but pitched waaaay down)
There was one point during their set where it seemed like the majority of the club flocked to this room and was either dancing their asses of or just losing their minds. This was probably the best set I heard during the entire festival, and they were playing the entire time I was there (4 hours).
After this I went to go get some food and lay down for a bit.
I arrived at the festival for Margaret Dygas who I was looking forward to, but I couldn't really get into her set because the volume was pretty low.
After much ado, Ricardo came on. The beginning of his set was kind of all over the place, and he was red lining the system quite a bit. There were about 30 mins near the end of his set which I liked, so he wasn't horrible, but the set was still a bit of a let down.
Sven on the other hand, wow. The expectations I had for this guy were mega-high, and he met them, and shattered them. He just destroyed the bowl, and had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hands. There isn't much more I can say about this set than, "pure destruction", and almost everyone I talked to agrees. After so many years of waiting for his return to North America, he certainly did not disappoint.
The Boat:
I had my reservations about going on this since in 2009 with Luciano vs. Loco I didn't have the greatest time. I decided to go on anyway because Ricardo & Sven on a boat is not something you see every day, but I kind of wish I had gone with my gut instinct. Sven started and sucked pretty bad. The tunes he played were just boring, and I don't really know why he decided to play a set like that. Oh well, I guess I can forgive him considering how much he destroyed the bowl. Ricardo was quite good. His mixing wasn't the best, but he had the crowd going for sure. However, by the time he came on, I didn't want to stay much longer so that I could have energy for Old Miami.
On the positive side, I know to never go on the boat again. If Sven & Ricardo on a boat can't get it right, I doubt much else can.
Monday:
Old Miami
I arrived at around 10am with no line. The first act was some sort of a live band which I was not digging at all. Later came Tale of Us who were really good again. I think I preferred them at Circo Loco only because they suited that room more, and the sound in that room was a lot better. Even though 70% of the songs they played at Old Miami, they played at Circo Loco, I still really enjoyed their set: that's how good they were. After this set, I started really feeling the heat (which was approaching 45 degrees w/ humidity) and had to sit out Benoit & Sergio. After them, Vincent Lemieux came on, and after trying really hard to fight off the heat, I just had to leave. I really didn't want to, but I felt like I was on the verge of heat stroke. It was an incredibly hot day, and there was not much shade. I was really disappointed to leave, considering the 2 DJs I wanted to see the most (Cassy & Craig Richards) came on afterward, but I had no choice. After 2 years of extreme heat during Old Miami, I hope next year is a little better. If not, I'm just going to arrive after high heat (i.e. after 2pm).
Festival:
I spent a lot of time running back and forth on this day, so my review will be short
- Scuba was dropping the darker Berghain sounds on the Red Bull stage which I really liked.
- Justin Martin brought the funk at the Beatport stage
- DJ T-1000 played banging techno at the Made in Detroit stage where I witnessed the funniest antics at the whole festival (literally everyone at this stage seemed to be short circuiting to the sounds of 130bpm+ techno)
- Caught some of Claude Young who had some technical difficulties, but also had some good moments
- Adam Beyer (now with hair) brought it like he usually does, but at this point I was just finished and couldn't really enjoy his set
In summary:
Best set
- Tale of Us @ Circo Loco
Best Experience
- Sven Vath @ Main Stage
Best Afterparty
- Circo Loco
Best Food
- Slow's stand @ The Festival (I think I ate 8 mini pulled pork sandwiches throughout the weekend)
Other thoughts
- NEVER staying at the Ren Cen again. They tried to us out of our room, and we had to wait up to 20 minutes just to reach the elevator after the festival due to bottlenecking.
- I love Detroit and DEMF. Everyone I encountered in the city was very friendly and was thanking us for coming to their city. The people of Detroit really embrace this festival, and it's refreshing to see after in so many other cities, people reject their big festivals and the people who attend them.
DEMF is such a great weekend away, and I foresee myself attending this festival for years to come. Each year it gets better and better.
PoLskA
quote:
Originally posted by The Highroller
The Boat:
On the positive side, I know to never go on the boat again. If Sven & Ricardo on a boat can't get it right, I doubt much else can.
Sven and Ricardo didnt get it right because both were ed up... prob a lil too much coke...
Ricardo was soo bad that rumor is he had to be carried off the boat...
after trying to see Sven... i said it and went to see Loco Dice who was awesome!
nadezhda
I guess I wasn't paying attention because I didn't realize the Circo Loco party went on well into Sunday. Bah! Instead we waited nearly two hours for an omelette. :-|
Also, if the lineup is as underwhelming on Monday next year as I felt it was this year, I'm staying at Old Miami a lot later.
