In January 2001, I was fortunate enough to have caught infectious mononucleiosis right before my winter vacation, cancelling my travel plans to the Western United States and leaving me with around $600 in credits good for Southwest Airlines.
My inital sorrow soon turned to joy when I found out that the 2001 Detroit Electronic Music Festival was still on after a year of silence on Carl Craig's part. I was barely able to afford two round-trip plane tickets for myself and my girlfriend so hopefully hotels and car rentals wouldn't cost too much money.
But curses! A quick phone call to Mom to confirm that my family calendar is clear for that date reveals that my cousin is getting married the first night of the festival! A search for flights tells me that I will miss not only the first day but most of the second due to Southwest's unfortunate schedule. My cousin will never be forgiven for making me miss Ken Ishii, Autechre, Tortoise, and Nobukazu Takemura.
Priceline gives me a cheap hotel 10 minutes by foot from the festival grounds. Hertz gives me a much less cheap rental car with a V6, a decent sound system, and a CD player. Whatever, I'M GOING TO FUCKING DETROIT!
Arrival 6PM. I am meeting my diasporic friends at the nifty Hart Plaza fountain at 6PM. It takes me 45 minutes to get to the hotel from the airport but I eventually find them all. Dirties, and a few det-goths and maybe some folks from rec.arts.bodyart. We groove to Laurent Garnier for a while before heading to Greektown for some food including some flaming cheese. WE come back to the festival. I get my first encounter with Kid Koala and Stacey Pullen, who both kick my ass, and I get to see Saul Williams in the flesh. I pass up Mixmaster Mike to see Pullen and I pass up Kenny Larkin to see Kid Koala both of which seemed like great ideas but now I'm not so sure. I see Ken Ishii up in the DJ booth with Stacey and then later in the ELEVATOR TO THE APARTMENT but NO I DON'T SAY HI!
That night isn't over after the last record ends. There's a whole slew of afterparties. I give my friends a ride to one while we go over the one I bought tickets for with Dopplereffekt, Ultradyne, Ectomorph, Adam X, and Heather Hart, while my friends are going to see Adam Beyer, Ben Sims, Marco Carola, Punisher, Jay Denham, and Function at One-X. I decide that tonight is not a good night for electro so I scalp my tickets and join them, passing up Derrick May, Carl Craig, Laurent Garnier, etc. etc. parties to do so. I do not regret it, especially since I think I ended up parking right near Techno Alley in front the old headquarters for Metroplex and KMS!
The next day I go to sleep at 5AM. I wake up at 8, shower off, and then we meet with this couple from New Zealand to get interviewed. We've already eaten, but they haven't, so we go to the only open diner we can find. Toast takes a half hour and costs $3.50. Once the interview is done, we first go to the Ramada, which is apparently the only place in Downtown Detroit that sells cigarettes on the weekends. Tobacco needs satisfied, we head back to the festival to listen to some jungle. JUNGLE? WTF? I THOUGHT THIS WAS A TECHNO FESTIVAL? Chill out, boy, this is the only thing that's gonna wake you up. We eat at the festival that night, which sounds bland, but it worked this way: You bought meal tickets which were valuable at the 20 or so local vendors of everything from hamburgers to Indian food and back. They were also good for pints of Miller or Bacardi Jungle Juice, but why bother?
It starts to rain, then to thunder, then to hail, so the festival gets canceled. My friends and I decide that a little GAMBLING AND DRINKING is in order, so we take the car to nearby Canada to the Casino Windsor. I lose some money on drinks and blackjack. On the way back home, we buy some liquor, and my friends get boozed before I drive them to the airport. I call my parents to thank them for having me. On the plane, I realize that I have left a CD in the car. The rental car. Fuck.