Movement 2024 Was The MOVE!
As always, Movement Festival in Detroit was an experience to be remembered. Between the physical art located around the city and the stages, the perfectly curated artists and music, and the general vibes of the people, I truly have no complaints about this year. “What about the rain?!” – you may be yelling through your device at me. Let’s be for real, Paxahau did an amazing job at handling that whole situation. First of all, the safety of attendees always comes first. That rain storm was no joke, and with the addition of thunder and lightning, that could have caused some serious issues. Not only that, but lots of rain + lots of electrical equipment is a recipe for disaster and injury. At the end of the day, Sunday’s events were really only shut down for a few hours before reopening the festival, which they really didn’t even have to do. And and and… they allowed all Sunday ticket holders entry into the festival Monday. I have personally never seen a festival do that for its attendees, so kudos to Paxahau for trying their best when Mother Nature literally rains on their parade.
With the festival only being 3 days long, there were soo many good performers squeezed into every day’s lineup, meaning I was bee-bopping all over the venue trying to catch everyone I could. My most notable Saturday mentions are certainly Stacey Pullen, Skream, Barclay Crenshaw, Ludacris (please don’t hate on Luda – I know he was out of place, but it was nostalgic for me – okay!), Tee Grizzley (holy wow that waterfront stage was killin’ it on Saturday), Loco Dice, and Carl Craig. A personal highlight of this day was definitely when Barclay Crenshaw’s mom came up to the rail and started dancing with us in the crowd. You can tell she’s a very proud momma. Sunday, although shortened due to weather, had some incredible acts as well such as the Saunderson Brothers, Delano Smith, Fabiola, and LadyMonix. Always gotta mention the Detroit faves when talking about a Detroit festival. Unfortunately, some artists weren’t able to play at all, so that really sucks especially for the attendees that came for specific artists. But we can be upset without placing blame on anyone. I think Monday was my favorite day because energy was a little more relaxed and you can tell everyone was just enjoying our last moments of Techno Christmas. Seth Troxler, Goldie, Hiroko Yamamura, VTSS, and Joney Dijon were some of my favorite sets this day.
Okay okay, I’ll stop talking about the rain on Sunday. Let’s talk about Saturday and Monday though! Saturday was typically hot and sunny Movement vibes. Bless the Detroit God’s for finally getting the fountain fixed! It was such a blessing to be able to sit down near it and get a misty little refreshment of water while watching the light shows. Monday, however, was a bit chilly! It was certainly a pants + jacket type of day for me, but of course, the jacket didn’t stay on very long once I was in a crowd surrounded by people. Maybe I’m the weird one, but I actually prefer dancing in a chillier atmosphere. I don’t get as hot + sweaty and the crowd smells… less bad LOL. Truly no complaints about the weather – hot cold, rainy, whatever. I’m having a good time regardless.
Some people like to go home and rest after a long, hot day of dancing. Others like to keep the party going all night at the after party. I was lucky enough (and had enough energy) to attend a few different events throughout the city. The Lincoln Art Factory is a newer facility/collective of wonderful creatives curating events for the Detroit community. They hosted events there every night of the festival, going from about 9pm to like, 8am or even later. I’m not sure, I couldn’t last that long. Saturday night/Sunday morning we were able to stay up late enough to go around the corner to Lincoln Art Park to watch the sunrise with other sleep-deprived folks. And of course, what’s Movement without Marble Bar? We truly got the full experience over the weekend.
Thank you to Detroit, thank you to the people, and thank you to Movement for giving us all a reason to come to celebrate the music that was born here. Until next year!