Tel Aviv’s Guy Gerber is a force to be reckoned with in the DJ booth and studio. When Big Shot found out that Gerber was making his debut appearance at DEMF, we asked him to keep a diary of his trip to Detroit. He enjoyed himself so much that he can’t wait to return to the Motor City.
After playing a fun show with Save The Cannibals at Rebel in NYC on Saturday, I headed to DEMF on Sunday to close up the Beatport stage. It was an exciting prospect. I had played in Detroit only once before three years ago, and I was naturally exited and honored to have the chance to go back and visit and play the spiritual home of techno.
I’ve always heard great things about DEMF from friends like Richie Hawtin, so I was looking forward to seeing what changes they had made for this year’s event. What’s great about festivals like Detroit is that they give you chance to connect with your peers. Lots of friends from the DJ community all in a small space. It was really cool to catch up with the Tiefschwarz boys, Luciano and Loco Dice and to say hello to my friends at Innervisions. It’s always fun to swap some stories and have a few drinks together.
My set was scheduled to take place when Luciano and Loco Dice were set to close the main stage. I checked them out beforehand, and the crowd was going totally crazy. People were even crowdsurfing! It was really impressive to see such a large crowd obviously exited by great techno music.
I took to the Beatport stage at 10pm, just after the very short shorted Wighonomy Bros. closed out their vinyl-only set. The stage itself was awesome, open air and facing onto the Detroit River, the GM tower loomed over to the left, and the Detroit skyline was to the rear of the stage. I was delighted to see that the crowd was dense and packed and that there were some very beautiful girls in attendance. I played my live show and the crowd got going straight away. I played for about an hour, but unfortunately security told me to shut down at 11pm. I thought I would have more time so naturally I didn’t heed their suggestions, which unfortunately meant they literally pulled the plug on me. It was a sad end to what until that point had been an awesome set. There was no point arguing so I headed over to say hello to the boys on the main stage.
After the guys finished up, I joined them for Paxahau’s official after party on a huge boat with three levels. Carl Craig on the top room, Luciano and Dice on the middle level, and the four Innervisions boys downstairs. It was a massive venue, with each floor probably capable of holding 2000 folks. As we started down the river with some great music filling each floor, I knew DEMF was a uniquely special festival and that I would have to come back next year.
Words: Guy Gerber
Image: Chris Soltis
You can read a full review of DEMF here.