This year, the newly formed Identity festival came to DTE Energy Music Energy Theatre. Detroit was the second stop on the first ever touring electronic-music festival that introduces itself as a “sensory extravaganza” that possesses “unparalleled production.” They did not disappoint!
Throughout all stops of the tour, the festival is simultaneously running three stages: Rockstar Energy Drink’s Dim Mak Festival Stage, the Advent Stage, and the Skullcandy Main Stage. I was impressed that even though Detroit was only the second stop on the tour, the timeline of all stages was accurate and all performances flowed smoothly.
Our first stop was to the Rockstar stage to check out the fantastic electropop duo, Holy Ghost!.
As we walked over to a different stage, we encountered this lovely lady…
Modeselektor won me over immediately with their German charisma and also due to the fact they mixed an Anthony and the Johnsons track.
Next we meandered back to the Rockstar stage to see Datsik, a producer and Dubstep DJ from British C0lumbia, Canada. He was briefly joined by fellow performer, Steve Aoki. It was during his set that I really started to appreciate the visual artwork displayed behind each artist.
On the way to see Chuckie on the main stage, I met some new fun-loving and friendly people.
Dutch DJ Chuckie killed it and had a BAD dancer:)
The legendary Crystal Method!!!
After The Crystal Method, it was back to The Skullcandy stage to see Booka Shade. I had heard they were wonderful live so I was excited to see for myself. Brilliant!
The “Best Pumped Up Kicks” Award goes to this guy: Cool shoes dude!
Oh, and just in case anybody at the festival was being bad, we had this guy praying for us!
Maybe his praying was working because I got to catch the end of Nero.
At last, it was time for Steve Aoki. I had been looking forward to seeing him live all day. I expected a lot from a guy born in the party town of Miami but raised in Cali. Also, props to Steve for graduating with two degrees in Sociology and Women’s Studies. What an interesting guy and quite the show-stopper. His energy level was astounding and he went all out on his state setup. I would love to learn more about how they produced the colorful images and pictures on the display behind him because I had never seen anything like it. Props to all who was involved with that. “WOW” is all I have to say.
S’more friendly peeps…
The sun was setting just in time for Kaskade. His lighting was AMAZING. The stage setup featured thick colored column like beams with Kaskade’s 20 ft. high DJ booth. The ambience of the theatre and ethereal sounds of the music made Kaskade’s set one of the top performances of the night
Lastly, the highly respected songwriter, producer and DJ, DJ Shadow, wrapped up the night in a big way. He dashed onto the stage for a quick bow before disappearing into a giant colorful ball of lights.
Identiy Festival 2011 was a HUGE success and I really hope the festival returns next year. It was a unique and one-of-a-kind experience. Everyone involved in the tour should be proud because they pulled off something certainly very special. Thanks!