The Movement- DEMF

In the age of grandiose rave music festivals Detroit's Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) maintains its underground indie roots while still appealing to a larger audience seemingly every year.

At first glance when you look at the line ups for this years Detroit Electronic Music festival there is no names that stick out..... well that's if you are some new aged house music listener whose musical depth consist of Skrillex's Bangarang Album and Avicii's Levels record( No offense to them, great artist :) ). This years DEMF was special, with legends like Carl Craig, John Digweed, and Richie Hawtin shutting down the stage, veterans like Nina Kravis and Brodinski, the avant-garde Rrose, Big Gigantic, and new comers like BIG CHOCOLATE and Dantiez Saunderson(Son of techno legend Kevin Saunderson) making a name for themselves this was the perfect blend.

I felt some sense of  a spiritual rite of passage happening as I stood in the pouring rain watching Big Gigantic close out the festival. It felt like I was being baptized into a new life of coolness. At points it was cold, a bit rainy (Coughs* "ALOT RAINY" Coughs*) but the weather never overwhelmed me, the music and the atmosphere was just that good. At times I forgot it was raining, just engulfed in the music. In the end that's what festivals are all about.. the experience, this was a 3 day experience of what you get when you put the right music in the right place with the right people.

Much can be said about the success of this festival. There are alot of electronic music festivals going on at just about the same time yet that doesn't stop the success of DEMF. What draws the fans back every year is that the people remember the roots. Like a puppy who embraces its mother the fans know where home is, Detroit and Chicago started this music its only right that the festival feels original. DEMF isn't TomorrowLand, Ultra, Electric Daisy or Electric Zoo ... its DEMF, cemented in its own space amongst the festival Goliaths.

Photo Credit: Douglas Wojciechowski

Photo Credit: Joe Gall