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8/14/11

Festival Review - IDentity DTE Aug. 12 2011

While I didn't recognize most of the line-up, the Identity Festival held Friday at DTE Energy Theater was one of the best festivals I've been to since the days of the old Lollapaooza fests. To set the scene, the weather was a perfect warm but not too hot 80 degrees. I arrived around 4:30pm, which meant I missed a few of the early acts, but I did get there in time to see a 5pm set from electronic legends, The Crystal Method. Performing at the Rockstar Dim Mask stage, they were supposedly playing on the second stage, but, with the large stage and room to dance area, they brought more people than the main stage did for the entire day. The set from Crystal Method was a mixture of DJ, programmed effects and special effects like the CO2 blasts from the from the front of their stage set. They mixed their material with old electronic classics from Depeche Mode and more modern pop music.

I got the chance to interview Scott from Crystal Method after their set and he told me their sets today are just as fun for him as they were ten years ago. Other highlights from the Rockstar stage included an absolutely rocking set from Steve Aoki. He brought so much energy to his stage set that included a punk song, hip hop and high energy electric dance.
Anther stage at Identity was the small Advent stage. Set by the restrooms with a very small DJ booth set up. This stage, unfortunately, was met by passer-bys and some small groups dancing. I didn't catch too many acts here, but I did take this pic of Manufactured Superstars performing.
Besides the music and the t-shirt vendors, the other attraction was the crowd itself. What the crowd lacked in size as the show was seriously undersold they made up for with their enthusiasm for the music and their clothing, or maybe better put, their lack of clothing. Between interviewing the performers and taking in their sets I took in some fascinating crowd watching.
Okay, back to the bands, some other amazing sets saw included: the Disco Biscuits and a rather strange set from DJ Shadow. DJ Shadow hasn't been heard from in more than a few years and he hasn't played too many live shows so I didn't quite know what to expect from him. His set ended up more elusive than ever as her performed the entire set enclosed in a globe.

With the bands/DJs signing autographs between sets and the overall spectacle of it all had me comparing this show comic conventions I go to where the fans mix with the artists, dress in outrageous costumes and come home smelling pretty funky. If you want even more commentary check out my latest Most People Are DJs podcast where I review the show and feature tracks from a few of the artists.

This Post by Mikel O.D. of