Movement Music Festival marked another milestone for us as we covered the magic of Techno City with Backpacks and Beat Drops. We are so honored to have had the opportunity and for the unforgettable Memorial Day weekend Movement has given us. Not only did we end our weekend with tear-jerking memories, but we also ended up with body compositions of 50% Whiteclaw, 50% pizza (don’t mistake this for regret).
Movement Music Festival Highlights
The Lineup
Diverse talent from local Detroit heroes to European tech gods stormed the stages throughout the weekend. We loved the strong female representation and the fact that there were house music superstars there as well.
Favorite Sets
Patrick Topping
We’ve been hearing and seeing his name for a few years now, which is why his set was mandatory for us at Movement. He got us jazzed up the moment he leaped onstage in his neon yellow tracksuit, waving his techno hand to the beat (you know when DJs raise their arm and flap their hand around?). The real banger of his performance was his classic, “Be Sharp Say Nowt.”
Claudia: I spent hours searching for that song after the festival that night because it’s super catchy and lately I’ve been hearing it three times a day on Diplo’s Revolution radio at work. I was 100% sure it wasn’t Patrick Topping. Turns out, it’s his most-played song on Spotify, and I already had it saved.
Disclosure
An epic two-hour Disclosure set was the perfect end to our first night of Movement. We could have stayed at their stage and kept dancing for days. It’s been a minute since the last time we were graced by a live set from this duo, and while we weren’t sure what to expect, we should have known it was going to be endless, delicious house music.
Casey: We were so happy they dropped all of their hits, like “White Noise,” which is my favorite Disclosure song, and “Boss,” Claudia’s favorite Disclosure song.
Golf Clap
Big props to Bryan and Hugh for setting it off on the main stage to kick off day three even though they had hosted their legendary Country Club Disco warehouse party the night before. Their energy was exactly what the crowd needed to get us hyped up for the rest of the day; we all know how draining day three of a fest can be!
Even though no one ever has a clue about 90% of the music they play, that’s what makes Golf Clap’s live sets so highly-anticipated and mind-boggling. We loved watching the crowd blast off with them.
Claudia: For me, one of the highlights of their set was when they brought out Masteria for his track, “Lose Control,” which if you haven’t heard it on a good sound system, absolutely SLAPS.
Circulation and Layout
Sound
All the stages were really close together and easy to get to. We thought we might overhear a different stage’s sound while at the current stage, but there were never any issues!
Bathrooms
Another important thing to never have issues for are lines for the bathrooms, and Movement passed with flying colors. We gave extra credit for the bathrooms also having toilet paper more often than chance.
Stage Atmosphere
For the most part, we felt as though we had a good view and ample room to dance at each stage. (Although looking back at videos from Disclosure, we somehow don’t remember the giant tree blocking the stage from our point of view. If you can throw down a set so good that the crowd doesn’t notice a tree blocking the stage, you’ve made it.)
It’s hard being small humans in big crowds, but we felt great at Movement! The other attendees were also super mature and genuinely sweet – it seemed to generally be an older crowd. Nothing against Brads and Chads, but there weren’t a lot of them elbowing you to get to the front of the stage.
Vibes
Movement had a tight-knit community feel – we were constantly running into people we knew, making the fest feel small in a good way.
We also felt surrounded by good-quality humans – the kind that offer to let you go first while in line for the bathrooms, that give you water without first asking if you need any, and that blow cigarette smoke away from you while in the crowd.
DanceSafe
We are big proponents of raving safely! DanceSafe is an organization dedicated to harm reduction and education within the nightlife and electronic music community. They had a booth set up at Movement where you could safely check substances, ask questions, and refill water. We love seeing resources like this around to help keep our fellow ravers safe!
The Only Lowlight
One thing that really surprised us was that there were zero water refill stations. We brought our hydration packs in on the first day of the festival only to find out there was nowhere to fill them. You could use the sinks in the permanent bathrooms by the RA underground stage, but we weren’t sure if the sink water was drinkable. DanceSafe also had a mini station, but this was not labeled on the festival map.
Until Next Year
Other than that, the only other thing we have to say is we can’t wait for next year! If you, too, like techno, a “small world” feeling, and a mature crowd at your festivals, this one is 10,000% for you. And with that, the countdown for Movement 2020 begins.
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