What is the DEMF? What's the deal with Detroit anyway?

I might have rambled about this before but I got the question again recently and so here goes:

Detroit is the birthplace of techno music. There was this wierd confluence of japanese engineering at Roland and a little bit of soul and a place where things were so beat down economically that doing anything that brings people of all kinds and colors is a revolutionary act. Detroit shows the reality of race in America, in history and today. In the 90's, many of the best underground parties ever were in Detroit. As we used to say, "Bass brings the people together." When the sound is crisp enough that it doesn't hurt your ears, but the low end of the sound is strong enough to make your skeleton resonate... well, let's just say it's one of those things for those who know.

It's a different time now, and many of the people who used to travel so freely are older, and more responsible, and live in a less mobile fashion. But now we also have our shit together, and can take a vacation, get a hotel, and what do you know? There's a hundred thousand of us hanging all over downtown by the river. That's what the DEMF is. We regroup and compare notes, and dance until our older bodies give out, and swap inspirations. And while the event itself is pretty cool, from noon to midnight, it's the afterparties that really break out the thing we used to refer to as a vibe. Anyway, it's a good time. Jeff Mills is headlining this year.

There was this party called Amphoteric, at some particular space that no longer exists, and I got to see Jeff Mills play records. It was like he was a robot from the future, he did stuff I did not think possible. He mixed records by looking at the groove and dropping the needle on the record, no fader, no headphones.

So the people doing DEMF now are the people that I'd want in my crew if civilization had fallen and we had to built a city and society from scratch. They are the pickiest customer I have ever dealt with, because every facet of their project has to be designed well, mean something, and be perfectly executed. They would sit there with a ruler and measure the shirts I printed for them to make sure every one was perfect. In short, they're crazy, and obsessive, and what they are after is creating the perfect experience of music and culture. So, yeah.

Did I mention that my week has been insane? As in, a test of will and endurance and balancing of priorities in the face of equipment failures, hard core economics, and events beyond ones own control? It's like that.

Oh yeah. I'm done with college.