The weather stayed idyllic, the sounds stayed loud and the crowds who stuck around for the final day of Movement 2009 were treated to massive sets from Detroit’s techno legends, those who took influence from them and someone they looked back to for inspiration.
Flying Lotus
Things started early in the afternoon with glitchy beatmaker Flying Lotus bouncing on stage in a J Dilla T-shirt to the thunderous beats he was pulling from his laptop. The crowd showed plenty of bounce too, but FlyLo seemed to be enjoying himself as much as anyone at that stage. The laid back and loosely arranged set touched on everything breakbeat, showcased a few of his newest tracks and concluded with an impromptu chopping of session of hardcore jungle breaks.
Ellen Allien
Dubstep don Benga didn’t arrive in Detroit in time for his set, which disappointed more than a few in the crowd, but the boisterous masses over at the Beatport stage didn’t seem to mind with Ellen Allien working an all vinyl set. She began with bleeping techno beats but smiling at the dancing masses in front of her the whole time, worked around to slightly more mainstream choices like the club mix of Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘N’ Nite”.
Afrika Bambaataa Zulu Nation Throwdown
As she was wrapping up her set, things were getting much more fired up back at the Redbull stage where legendary selector Africa Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation were starting to throw down. Bam started the set working the decks and flipping in classic cuts and timeless breaks while MC Whipper Whip and crew worked the frenzied crowd ever more hyper. B-boys and girls were given ample time to show their skills center stage before the MC invited every lady in the place up on stage where bedlam ensued. By the end of the set Bam had given the decks over to a member of his crew, but remained at work selecting each song off the laptop as he used to with the vinyl back in the early days of hip hop After that lesson in how hip hop parties should be handled, the weekend concluded with a focus back on the festival’s host city.
Kevin Saunderson
On the main stage Kevin Saunderson was dealing in steady techno beats with plenty of rhythmic accents. Classic tracks popped in and out of the mix with the expected highlights coming from his own catalog.
Audion
To close down the underground stage for another year Movement called up Matthew Dear for a live set from his Audion guise. Things started smooth and atmospheric, but that didn’t last for long as Dear let loose with heavy shifty beats and rarely let up through his set. Toward the end of things he was joined on stage by a small mob of people in masks who danced and partied with him until he brought the beats to an end.
Derrick May
The job of properly closing out the weekend on the mainstage was left to Derrick May, and the techno-founding father had no problem handling the task. Mixing up fast thumping beats and twirls of melody, his set amped up what Saunderson had laid down before with classics and new cuts keeping everything interesting. The final beats hit and the music abruptly ended at the stroke of midnight, closing out another weekend of expertly controlled chaos and terrific music.
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