Movement 2022 Reminded Us That Techno Is Detroit: The Festival’s 13 Best Sets

It had been three years since the last Movement, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the crowd in Detroit was thus ready to reunite and get down and the 2022 iteration of the event, which took place this past weekend (May 28-30) in downtown Detroit’s Hart Plaza. 

It was truly joyful to be back in the city for the many of us who fell in love with Detroit through Movement and its music. The event also marked a triumphant family reunion for the techno all-stars and superfans who call Detroit home. Altogether, it was a stellar three days of techno, house, hip-hop, love, connection, positive vibes and dancing, and a much-needed respite from the pain of current events.  

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These are the 13 best sets we saw. 

DJ Holographic Reflects Our Joy

Playing on the Stargate stage, Detroit’s rising star DJ Holographic came onstage glowing in an all-white outfit and kept the vibes going after taking over the decks from Andres and Rick White. She reflected our revelry as she served up hour-and-a-half of joyful soulful vocal melodic groovy fun, a perfectly upbeat housey set for dancing in the sun. Everyone was grooving hard, including Holographic, who sang along and appeared to be having a blast with all of us.

She opened with groovy Groove Armada track (“Love Sweet Sound (Mark Knight & Funkagenda’s A.H.B Mix)”), which led into an even groovier Demuir number (“High. Alive. And Dirty.”), which really got the crowd bouncing. Other IDs from her sunny set included Sheila Ford’s “Why Can’t You See (Louie Vega and DJ Spen Extended Vocal Mix),” Andy Compton’s “That Acid Track,” Tiger & Woods’ “No More Talking,” Róisín Murphy’s “Incapable,” “Dance You Mutha” from Mike Dunn, Leonce’s “Werkk,” Catz ‘N Dogz’s “Nasty,” a spacey disco bop from Gene Farris (“Be With You (Partyrocker Mix)”), and the pure classic house joy of Frankie Knuckles’ “I’ll Take You There.” As we were all thankful that we could dance together again at this beloved fest, she fittingly ended with “Grateful” by Kenny Bobien. 

Stacey Pullen Keeps It Bouncin’

Stacey Pullen was next to represent Detroit Love, looking effortlessly cool in a fitted black short sleeve hoodie. He offered lively, bouncey house, keeping the energy and vibes high and joyful. His IDs included “Music Is Life” from Andre Salmon and M.F.S: Observatory, “Buggin” by Ant Brooks, “The Undertaker” from Kirstin Velvet, “Anything” by Brown Vox and Artdate, and the extra bouncy and fun “Blah Blah Shake” from The Golden Boy. 

Carl Craig Celebrates Detroit Love

All the stellar talent that played the Stargate stage on Saturday was part of the Detroit Love showcase curated by Carl Craig, who closed things out. During each set, impactful phrases like “Techno Is Detroit,” “Black, Brown, Proud” and “Black Power Detroit” flashed in bold letters on the screen behind the decks. When Craig began, he also took a moment to celebrate the triumphant return of Movement, and the history of how things began here at Hart Plaza back at the turn of the century with Detroit Electronic Music Festival, which he made happen alongside organizer Carol Marvin. “In 2000, this was the dream of where we wanted it to be, so this is a pleasure to be back,” he said. He also shouted-out to Paxahau, the local independent event production company that’s run Movement since 2006, who, as Craig eloquently put it, “Made this gift to you on behalf of the city of Detroit.”

2 Chainz Knows Detroit Is Different

While it was difficult to step away from Reverend Craig’s church of Detroit house and techno, 2 Chainz’s set beckoned. While he hails from rap capital Atlanta, he let us know that he feels at home in Detroit, and that Detroit feels at home with him. Headlining the Waterfront stage on night one, 2 Chainz came out in a white and forest green Rhude jumpsuit and started with his Drake collab “No Lie,” which led into “Gray Area.” (He explained its NSFW meaning to the crowd. We won’t print it here.)

He continued serving up a nonstop stream of his bangers and fire collabs — interspersed with his humorous banter — from across his catalog, including “Big Bank,” “Watch Out,” “Bandz A Make Her Dance,” “It’s a Vibe,” and “Duffle Bag Boy,” a 2007 throwback from his duo with Dolla Boy, Playaz Circle, teamed up with Lil Wayne. From his “Big Bank” bars he went into “I’m Different,” and we all went off even harder. Detroit is different, and he knows it.

Richie Hawtin Is Too Hot to Shazam

Techno king and honorary Detroiter (he grew up across the river in Windsor, Canada, and got his start in Detroit in the early ’90s) Richie Hawtin closed the amphitheater-style Movement stage with pure, banging techno. As it typically goes when seeing the British-Canadian maestro, we try to Shazam the hypnotic bangers he serves, but the tracks this weekend were undiscoverable, likely a mix of unreleased heaters and special live sonic concoctions. The captivating, propulsive sound was enhanced by what friends in the crowd called “tasteful lighting,” bright flashing lights alternating red blue and white, with the stage flanked by bright, pulsating poles of lights and overhead lighting flashing to the beat into the crowd. It was the perfect techno ending to a lively first day back at Movement.

Louie Vega Brings New York Summer to Detroit Spring

New York house icon Louie Vega started Sunday off on a joyful, groovy note at the Pyramid stage, which is scenically backed by the glittering Detroit River and Windsor, Canada. Louie wore all black, subbing a baseball cap for his traditional wide-brimmed hat, and grooved along with us to the rhythmic and soulful house jams he delivered.

He opened with “Never Thought” from Kerri Chandler and Sunchilde, before moving into a Brian Eno and David Byrne track (“The Jezebel Spirit”), “What Would You Do? (Expansions NYC Extended Dub Vocal)” from Dames Brown, Andrés and Amp Fiddler, and Honey Dijon’s “Downtown,” which got everyone grooving hard. He played a healthy helping of joyous tracks from his extensive catalog, including “Chimi” and “Music Is My Life” from his recent Expansion In The NYC album. His set was a joyful helping of soulful house with Latin and African rhythms, and for the final twenty minutes, as sunset approached and Maceo Plex was about to take over, the master went a little harder, with even more energy, to set the tone for Maceo.

Maceo Plex Summons the Darkness

It was now Texas-born Maceo Plex’s turn to take us into the darkness as the sun continued to set. He was looking like the cool DJ dad he is, rocking an earth tone Pendleton-style long sleeve button down, and opening with a quote about Detroit mixed with groover “The Poem” from his Maetrik alias.

He continued preparing us for the transition to night with his “When the Lights Are Out,” which was followed by two releases from his Ellum imprint; AVNU’s deep and dark yet also lively and housey “Systematic,” into the darker “Compute” from Effin & Blindin, perfectly timed with the darkening sky. It felt like Maceo was taking us in a chariot straight to a very lit rave in hell, and the crowd was loving it. He was followed by Kenny Larkin, who saved the day when Loco Dice couldn’t make it in time for his set. “Kenny Larkin is coming up, if it weren’t for him and this city, I wouldn’t be here,” Maceo announced.

E-Dancer Takes Us To Alien Church

Sunday at Stargate was curated by Detroit techno forefather Kevin Saunderson for his KMS Records showcase, where he performed a live set as his legendary experimental techno alias, E-Dancer. The stage was configured in a totally different setup than the day prior, with an elevated DJ booth hidden behind a triangular LED screen. This setup made it less about the DJ, and more about the vibes, the journey, and the music.

The journey Saunderson brought us on was straight through time and space, with Matrix-esque code running across the screens as Saunderson’s head peeked out from behind his hoodie like a techno magician, bewitching us with dark, groovy and melodic sounds. The set tapped into the well of eternally futuristic classic Detroit techno, including many of his E-Dancer tracks, including throwbacks like 1997’s “Velocity Funk” and remixes from 2021’s Re:Generate album, like Len Faki’s remix of “Warp.”

As the first leg of this space journey neared its end (Juan Atkins took over the spaceship controls to close things out), Saunderson reminded us that we were all there because of the techno forefathers. “This is 40 years from the vision,” Saunderson said. “It is magical that it can come back to Detroit — it went overseas, and it came back where it belongs.”

Juan Atkins Delivers a Techno History Lesson

Another Detroit techno forefather, Juan Atkins, ended the night with a techno history lesson, a reminder that techno comes from a place of innovation and freedom, and its pioneering tracks still sound futuristic AF. He was a techno technician simultaneously beaming us up into the past and future. He kicked things off with the two songs credited as the first techno tracks, dating from 1981: “Alleys of Your Mind” from his Cybotron project with Richard Davis, and “Sharevari” by A Number of Names.

He played more space jams, many dating back from techno’s early years and his other projects, including Model 500 and his given name. From Cybotron, we also heard “Cosmic Cars” and “Clear,” and from Model 500, “Night Drive,” “The Chase,” “Play It Cool” and “No UFO’s,” the latter of which had UFOs flying low over the desert as the visuals. The killer set had everyone dancing hard and was a groovy, essential techno history lesson for all lovers of the genre.

HAAi Is The Newest Queen of the Underground

When we arrived at the Underground stage for the first and only time over the weekend, rising left-field artist HAAi had just begun her techno witchcraft. Even with the sun shining in through the back during the day, the space felt like a secret club underneath another club, with glowing tube lighting around the DJ booth glowing purple pink and red.

The newest queen of the underground delivered hard, breaky U.K. and German techno sounds, rocking orange tinted-sunglasses and her short-ish wavy beach blonde down. She hopped around with us and whistled back at us several times as we cheered on selections that included “Lecker Mädche'” from Andreas Krämer and Thomas Pogadl, “Trance Gate” from Piska Power, her glitchy track “6666,” and Marko East’s “The Perfect 6 Min Abs Workout,” which we Shazamed several times to confirm this was the correct song, a weird, fun bubbling number.

The Blessed Madonna, who played later at the Pyramid, came by to say hi. When HAAi played a ridiculous (and totally un-Shazamable) hard techno track that repeated “s— spreading, a– licking” among other phrases, we were all bemused while dancing our asses off, including Ms. Madonna.

Overmono Has A Love For Dreamy Club Bangers

Powerhouse U.K. duo Overmono — who we’ve loved ever since hearing their “Bby” last year — presented their music live, enhancing this dreamy, club-ready sound with synthesizer flourishes and bold, flashing visuals. The stunning second half of their set folded in their remix of For Those I Love’s “I Have a Love, as the words “I have a love” and “and it’s to never fade” flashed behind them. This led into “Gunk,” with the dogs from their album art in the background, and “Bby,” which made the mood a little harder, but still dreamy.

Flying Lotus Makes Glitch Smooth and Sexy

Flying Lotus started things out with bassy, glitchy, electronic-leaning hip-hop. After a few tracks, it was time to keep the journey moving upwards in energy. “What’s up Detroit!” the Los Angeles-based artist greeted us. “I hope y’all don’t mind, I want to take it up a notch.” This brought us to Zack Fox’s “Bane,” followed by another hip-hop track, a futuristic cinematic instrumental number, and a remix of the funky “Wesley’s Theory” he produced for Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, featuring George Clinton and Thundercat. The visuals were stunning, dizzying and trippy throughout, reminiscent of brain cells sending signals to each other. Maybe it was just a real-time MRI reading of our collective minds being blown by this wild multidimensional space travel FlyLo was taking us on.

Jeff Mills Closes The Show

Afterwards, as the dusk was settling, it was time for the Wizard himself, Jeff Mills, to close out the Movement stage for two-plus hours of live techno beamed in, it seemed, directly from outer space. It was the perfect jaw-dropping two-hours of techno magic to close Movement’s successful return. Not only was it an enchanting treat to shake every last bit of energy out of your body to, it was a sight to behold, as the Detroit legend worked his magic on his set up that included a 909 drum machine, vinyl turntables, a mixer, a synth, and other toys. Some of the discoverable tracks he played included hard slappy spacey techno from Developer, “ARCADIANS 58,” “The Bells,” and “Zero Gravity Prototype” from Zachary Lubin. Yet the best songs he played were the amazing 909 breaks and loops he created live, showcasing his true wizardry. 

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