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Movement Detroit: Day 1 Highlights

Movement Detroit: Day 1 Highlights

Day 1 of the 14th annual Movement Electronic Music Festival was met with as much sunshine as there was techno. As the cool breeze rolled in from the Detroit River, the pounding bass lines of the Movement stages filled Hart Plaza with a tremendous energy under the backdrop of the Detroit and Windsor skylines. Placement of notable stages added to the appeal of the festival with the Beatport stage overlooking the river, the Underground stage in an underground parking lot, and the Red Bull stage at the bottom of stairs. Saturday’s stacked lineup kicks off the first day with powerhouses Chris Liebing, Claude VonStroke and Stacey Pullen ringing in the night. Here are the highlights from Day 1.

Photo credit: Paul Kelley

Justin Martin - Beatport Stage

We arrived to see Justin Martin take the stage. Originally planning to soak in his opening act for the Dirtybirds’ takeover for a bit, the San Francisco native pieced together glorious track after track. Overlooking the pristinely clean Detroit River in the early afternoon, the stage setup was perfect, complete with balmy winds and soft sunlight dancing among the audience. Martin sensed the perfect opportunity begging him to curate the experience, and he played expertly to the mood.
The result? The perfect day party with hauntingly beautiful melodies like his remix of Rachel Row’s ‘Follow The Step’ and his ubiquitous smash with fellow labelmate Eats Everything, ‘Steven Jello.’ 4 hours in, Martin already had delivered one of the best sets that would be heard all weekend.

Photo credit: Paul Kelley

Simian Mobile Disco - Beatport Stage

As Martin was finishing, the duo set up to his left, softly easing the crowd into their set after Martin steamrolled his music through the satisfied crowd. With initially softer beats sprinkled into the crowd, the British duo ratcheted up the intensity track by track. Staying away from tracks with vocal edits, the duo reached deep into dance music archives to deliver unexpected hits. While Motor City’s Drum Ensemble’s ‘Get Slapped Up’ elicited the biggest response from the crowd, our favorite was Chymera’s ‘Disc,’ a little known track that has been receiving a recent revival in sets.

Photo credit: Paul Kelley

Green Velvet - Beatport Stage

The Beatport stage was loaded with massive talents, and an opening slot for the Dirtybird head honcho VonStroke is no easy feat. Though the Chicago DJ’s album last year was intriguing, Green Velvet had to deliver on stage in Detroit in a day of many great sets at the waterfront stage. As the last rays of sunlight faded behind the crowd, he ushered in his loaded arsenal tracks with Maceo Plex’s remix of “Crossfade.” With his forever staple “Lazer Beams” in tow, the crowd quickly multiplied as the set continued. Jammed into the corner of Hart Plaza, a loyal following began to assemble, and very few were able to escape the allure of this stage, thanks to the finely tuned performance on display.

Photo credit: Paul Kelley

 

Stacey Pullen - Made in Detroit Stage

We named Stacey Pullen the editor’s pick in our preview, so of course, we sat ourselves firmly at the Made in Detroit tent to see the legend delight his city. Playing on the city-side border of the festival, Pullen’s set could be heard for blocks outside Hart Plaza in the heart of downtown Detroit. Though he was playing at Movement, his set was living and breathing in his hometown. Bringing his brand of techno and house, he fed the crowd music like Tocadisco’s “Cinderella” and Tapesh’s remix of Roy Rosenfield’s “Ino.” Driving towards groovy heights, the DJ stared into the crowd through his black spectacles and waved off the adoring bellows of joys from the crowd, humbled by the love.

Photo credit: Bryan Mitchell

 

Claude VonStroke - Beatport Stage

Cloaked under a Detroit Tigers flag, Claude VonStroke finished the night at the Beatport stage with a phenomenal techno set befitting of the Dirtybird name lined with tracks from label champions. Shiba San’s “Okay” and tracks from VonStroke’s own EP such as “Dood” and “Urban Animal” riled up the crowd to a tremendous fervor, but the energy was unmatched when he threw in Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” into the wild. Barclay closed out his set to a ubiquitous chant of “one more song,” but to the dismay of the crowd, was not allowed to continue.

Photo credit: Paul Kelley

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