From the time the gates opened at Hart Plaza, ushering in a single-day record attendance of 35,000-plus patrons, anticipation filled the festival grounds. Perhaps it was raw excitement for the weekend ahead — dozens upon dozens of international electronic musicians from all genres were represented and ready to take the stage at Movement 2010. Perhaps it was the smell of carnie-style corndogs simply upsetting stomachs. Perhaps it was the idea that even as Detroit’s economic woes plagued the city’s day-to-day existence, Memorial Day weekend was going to be blessed with something that actually worked for once. In the end, it was all those reasons plus one more. After taking a year off, Richie Hawtin was returning to Movement and bringing his alter ego back to the stage for the first time in six years. The reason behind the crowd’s collective eagerness was unveiled — Plastikman was set to close the festival that very night.
While he was raised just across the Detroit River in Windsor, Canada, Hawtin remains a major figure attributed with sparking the fire that was the Detroit techno scene of the early ‘90s. His most established moniker, Plastikman, arrived in the scene at the same time, releasing a trio of acclaimed records — the controversial Sheet One (was it a real sheet of blotter acid featured on the cover?), fan favorite Musik and the Recycled Plastik EP. Hawtin had built the Plastikman name in renegade venues throughout the city then (the infamous party at the abandoned Packard Plant is still brought up each year at Movement), but the preparation for Plastikman’s return was quite a different affair. Hawtin was set to perform behind a 12-foot-tall, 38-feet-wide LED video wall (designed by visual whiz Ali Demirel). Instead of fliers and word of mouth, Hawtin promoted the event by releasing an iPhone app that not only shares Plastikman tour dates but also serves as an interactive device throughout the entire performance. “When we started out, the early Plastikman experience was huge speakers and a strobe light,” explains Hawtin. “But that was physical. It was a dark room and you were just pummeled by sounds and frequencies. This is 2010. Sure, we’ve got some more flashing lights and synchronization, but it’s supposed to be something that comes together and hits you on every level. You’ve got this barrage of color. You’ve got this attack on your ears … the feeling of the bass and the people around you…”
The new Plastikman experience has definitely taken on a new, grander life. An hour before midnight, Hawtin took the stage, the massive shield of LEDs making it nearly impossible to see if an actual person was buried deep inside the shifting colors and designs. Hawtin methodically worked his way through the set, covering his first two releases along with his later work, to present a by-the-book definition of Detroit techno. While the audible chrome of Hawtin’s set was over stimulating at times, the packed main stage howled for more. To close the set and reaffirm Hawtin’s fascination with “man and machine,” the wall of lights and color finally gave way to an actual human being — the deejay himself finally appeared. “Plastikman was always very connected to me being in the studio by myself,” says Hawtin. “We built the stage like me being in the studio, locked away from everybody. [I] thought it was important to finally come out [at the end of the set] and take a step back to the beginning — me and one drum machine, playing around and tweaking something magical out of that. [The show] ended where it all began.”
Words by Ryan Patrick Hooper with photos by Dustin Downing
