By Jim Tremayne
Detroit – If it’s Memorial Day weekend, we must be headed back to the Motor City.
Indeed, Movement festival—set for May 27-29—will bring many of the electronic scene’s biggest talents to Detroit’s Hart Plaza for three days of music on five lively stages. Once again, Movement will serve as the launch event for the America’s Best DJ promotion and its Summer Tour. Sponsored by Weedmaps and DJ Times, the 15-event tour will support an online vote that will answer the annual question: Who’s America’s Best DJ? (To vote and see the latest tour details, please visit AmericasBestDJ.us.)
With more than 100,000 fans expected to pack Hart Plaza, Movement festival will present plenty of hometown heroes (like The Belleville Three), plus top international acts like Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin and Testpilot (aka deadmau5). Additionally, plenty of afterparties at city venues like the TV Lounge (Soul Clap’s House of EFunk on Saturday, OK Cool! party on Sunday), Masonic Temple (Belleville Three & Richie Hawtin on Saturday, Adam Beyer pres. Drumcode party on Sunday, and Carl Cox B2B Joseph Capriati on Monday) and The Fillmore (Dirtybird party on Sunday) will keep Motown hopping into the early morning all weekend long. Movement festival is produced by Paxahau Productions.
At Movement and other tour-related events—like Chicago’s Spring Awakening Music Festival, Denver’s Global Dance Festival and Baltimore’s Moonrise Festival—DJ Times will maintain a dedicated America’s Best DJ exhibition booth and collect paper-ballot votes from fans supporting their favorite U.S.-based DJs.
Both the voting and the tour will run from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and the America’s Best DJ Award Show/Closing Party will take place Columbus Day Weekend in October. Fans who vote (in person and online) and fans who keep up with America’s Best DJ on Facebook and Twitter can win a slew of prizes. Additionally, one lucky voter (chosen randomly) will win a trip for two to the ABDJ closing event.
Out of the 100 U.S.-based jocks nominated for the America’s Best DJ title, eight will perform at Movement. In addition to last year’s ABDJ winner (Barclay Crenshaw aka Claude VonStroke), they include Cajmere (aka Green Velvet), Carl Craig, Honey Dijon, Josh Wink, Kevin Saunderson, Matrixxman, Soul Clap, and Stacey Pullen.
At Chicago’s Addams-Medill Park on June 9-11, Spring Awakening Music Festival will present a dozen ABDJ nominees. They include Marshmello, Ghastly, Audien, Diplo, Krewella, Mija, Jauz, GRiZ, Kill the Noise, Victor Calderone, J.Phlip and DJ Godfather. SAMF is produced by React Presents.
On July 21-22 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Global Dance Festival will present a weekend of music, including performances from seven ABDJ nominees – Green Velvet Porter Robinson, 3lau, Deorro, HeRobust, Z-Trip and two-time ABDJ winner Kaskade. Global Dance Festival is produced by Triad Dragons.
On August 12-13 at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course, Moonrise Festival will present at least five ABDJ nominees. At presstime, they include Carnage, Seven Lions, Porter Robinson, Morgan Page and two-time ABDJ winner Markus Schulz. Moonrise is produced by Steez Promo and Glow.
Stay with America’s Best DJ all summer long and maybe you, too can be a winner.
