If you're heading to Detroit this weekend, take a gander at our selections for some of the best events outside Hart Plaza.
Like most large-scale electronic music festivals, Movement has fostered a whole ecosystem of afterparties and pre-parties that are almost a festival unto themselves (there's a glut of official events too). And, as anyone who has been in past years will tell you, you're sorely missing out if you don't venture out of Hart Plaza after midnight. It's even worth going a day early to catch some of the events on Friday night, and this year offers more pre-festival options than ever before. And if you're there even earlier, the bi-annual Soul Skate roller disco event—with Louie Vega this time—is definitely not to be missed.
As usual, we're offering a guide to help you plan your Movement weekend. This is a concise rundown of local traditions and star-studded blowouts. It's by no means a complete list of the afterparties (you can find that here)—consider this a starting point. But you might want to start planning now, because these events tend to sell out.
Friday
Friday is packed with options. For starters, we've got cult selector DJ Harvey playing all night at our party at Bleu. Elsewhere, TV Lounge will again team up with Chicago's Smart Bar crew to start the weekend in style—locally sourced favourites Daniel Bell, Mike Servito, and UK favorite Floating Points will spin along with a handful of selectors representing both clubs, like Justin Long and Aran Daniels. The event will begin at 6 PM with some free BBQ. Another one set to kick off early sees local crew Bang Tech 12 celebrate 18 years of operation at Bookies from 3 PM.
Later on, Tangent Gallery, Rick Wilhite, Rush Hour and Interdimensional Transmissions will jointly present Vibes, with Terrence Dixon (playing live), Recloose, BMG, Salvatore Principato and Wilhite himself on the lineup. Meanwhile, The Works will kick off its weekend as the scene of an Electric Deluxe party, featuring label boss Speedy J, Lucy, DVS1, Mike Dehnert and Vault Series man Subjected. Ann Arbor institution Ghostly International will dive into the weekend with a 15th anniversary event at St. Andrew's Hall: Adult., Matthew Dear, JTC and Osborne's live debut are among the evening's offerings.
W.T. Records's third Annual Detroit Thing will happen again at Donovan's Pub, with sets coming from label boss Willie Burns (AKA Speculator), TX Connect and Ben Jenkins among others. Deeplabs and Black Catalogue have a label party lined up at Whiskey Disco, where Radio Slave, Monty Luke and Luke Hess will handle the decks. And then, for a good cause, Carl Craig's Intimate Evening at Motor City Wine (which recently moved to 1949 Michigan Avenue, experienced travelers should take note) will donate all profits to the Detroit Institute Of Art—but keep in mind, you can only get tickets at the door.
Saturday
Should you wish to venture away from Hart Plaza on Saturday afternoon, there's Beats & BBQ, which kicks off at 2 PM (and runs until 2 AM) at Motor City Wine, and has more than a dozen names on the bill, including Belgian DJ San Soda, Alton Miller and Tim Baker. Thoughtless Music will throw their own 12-hour bash at Northern Lights Lounge, and they've got Alixander III and Butane.
Whatever you do during the day, the weekend is really just beginning, so pace yourself for a potentially long night. CLR Detroit 2014 will take place at Bleu with a short but very potent lineup—Chris Liebing, Marcel Dettmann, Radio Slave and Function—and Paradigm Underground's show at City Hall has hotshots Tale Of Us and Damian Lazarus confirmed. NDATL Muzik's Deep Detroit 6 night at 1515 Broadway will get (ahem) deep with sets from Mike Huckaby, Jay Daniel and label boss Kai Alce, and the ReSolute crew will set up shop at Whiskey Disco with help from fellow New Yorkers Francis Harris and Black Light Smoke.
Back at The Works, Color Deaf Records and Air London will get Hot In Here—the lengthy lineup includes Leftroom boss Matt Tolfrey, jozif, Bloody Mary and Marc Houle—while Dinamo Azari and Metro Area's Morgan Geist headline Bathroom Culture's dance party and art exhibition at North End Studios. Swing by the Shelter for Sampled Detroit and Slur Records' Love The D party with Maxxi Soundsystem, Gene Farris and many others. And lastly, Soul Clap's House of EFUNK, one of the weekend's hottest tickets, will take over TV Lounge. This one has a pretty stacked lineup—funk legend George Clinton is due to appear, as are the likes of Heidi, DJ Three and Doc Martin (playing a versus set), Stacey Pullen and Andrés, and of course the Boston duo themselves—to keep things going from midnight through to noon on Sunday.
Sunday
If you're still up from Saturday night, why not head to Comet Bar for an Industry Brunch with Shawn Rudiman and Titonton Duvante? In terms of stuff happening after the festival, Sunday is no slouch for epic events either: first up, there's the Interface 47 party at The Works, with a blistering lineup that includes Regis and Oscar Mulero. OK, Cool's regular bash is taking place at TV Lounge with Seth Troxler, The Martinez Brothers, Thugfucker and more.
Interdimensional Transmissions' No Way Back party will take over 1515 Broadway with Carlos Souffront, Mike Servito and hometown heroes Erika and BMG, while Flying Circus will team up with No. 19 Music at City Club for what should be a wild throwdown—the Visionquest DJs, Mano Le Tough and an extended set from Art Department are all on the bill.
Excursions at Russell Industrial Center will put the spotlight on Detroit deep house as Rick Wilhite and Marcellus Pittman headline, and Detroit techno innovator Derrick May will get his own time to shine with a gig at The White House. Quirky Michigan native Todd Osborn will appear at BODY CITY at Whiskey Disco, and, finally, Italian decks wiz Marco Carola will make his only afterparty appearance at a Mixmag shindig at Bleu.
Monday
If Sunday is the big night then Monday is the gauntlet, where true party warriors (or latecomers) can revel on into the wee hours of Tuesday. RBMA will host a bash at St. Andrews Hall where Maceo Plex will play back-to-back with Michael Mayer, along with appearances from Loco Dice and DJ Sneak.
Kevin Saunderson will rep KMS Records at Whiskey Disco, while promoters As You Like It will link up with Safe at TV Lounge with Move D, Daniel Avery and Bicep. Bang The Box will host a bass-heavy showcase at Three Fifty Terrace, with local juke maven DJ Godfather at the helm and supported by DJ Assault, DJ Clent and Sinistarr.
Dirty Epic's shindig at The Works looks mighty tempting too, especially for the techno heads. Voices From The Lake, Anthony Shake Shakir and Bryan Kasenic are some of the highlights, along with a grip of Pittsburgh DJs including Pittsburgh Track Authority and the Humanaut selectors. If you've got the energy, then Detroit has your back until the bitter end.
Soul Clap, George Clinton, Heidi, Justin Martin, DJ Three, Doc Martin, Stacey Pullen, Andrés, Scott Grooves, Egyptian Lover, PillowTalk, Tanner Ross, Nick Monaco, Till von Sein, FSQ, Dan Bain
Oscar Mulero, Drumcell, Audio Injection, Dustin Zahn, Kyle Geiger, Pinion, John Templeton, Jay Zoney, JGarrett, Corbin Davis, Joel Morgan, Centrific, Dean Paul
Derrick May, Bruce Bailey, Stacey Hale, Daniel Andres, Markis, Gene Hunt, Walter Glasshouse, Todd Weston, DJ Seoul, Oscar P, Marissa Guzman, Joel Conway
Voices From The Lake, Donato Dozzy, Neel, Clay Wilson, Bryan Kasenic, Mike Servito, Pittsburgh Track Authority, Aaron Clark, Relative Q, Plastic Love, Bas, Jimmy Maheras, Martin Fazekas