DEMF Afterparty Picks - Round 3: Sunday May 24th

As seems to be more and more the case every passing year, Sunday nights at DEMF are so jam-packed full of afterparties, even the most experienced festival-goer will have their head spinning trying to decide. I was no exception to this. At first it was a split decision between two parties, then three, and eventually five!

Finally, after a long internal debate, and the cancellation of Visionquest's Sensorama party, I landed on the party that the majority of my friends are going to, and what looks to be the most unique DEMF afterparty thus far.

My Choice:
I'm On A Boat on the Detroit Princess

Notice this time I said "choice," as opposed to "recommendation." I did this because unlike my other selections, I don't believe this party is as viable to everybody. At the current ticket price of $50, this party surpasses all others (including almost the three days of Movement itself) as the most expensive event at DEMF.

This price is not without some warrant, however. First of all, it's on a freaking boat. A MASSIVE boat. The Detroit Princess's website purports a guest capacity of 1500 people split among four levels.
The lineup is equally gigantic, with names like Carl Craig, Loco Dice, and Luciano headlining.
This might be a potential detractor from the party for some people. After all, the same artists will all be preforming at Movement on both Sunday and Monday, so if you already have tickets to that, you might be hesitant to spend the extra money on a possible repeat performance.

The boat is scheduled to set sail at 1:30am, cruise for two hours, and dock at 3:30am, with the party continuing until 5am. Boarding begins at midnight though, which is exactly when Movement ends. Thus, the timeline of this event might also prove vexing for some. With so many other great parties going on, many people don't want to be relegated to one spot for 3+ hours.

Thus far, I have never had anything other than an awesome experience on a techno boat party, even on the Ghostly one last year at WMC, which didn't actually go anywhere. I'm hoping that this will be a repeat experience. I'm also hoping that, since boats are regulated by somewhat strict Coast Guard rules, there wont be a chance of the party being like the oversold and overcrowded clusterfuck that Cheap Sunglasses' DEMF event was last year.

So if any of the above things are not for you (as I find myself wondering), do yourself a favor and check out one of the other promising events on Sunday night. The ones I'm eyeballing are:

• Night Moves @ The River's Edge Grille, headlined by Adultnapper, Jeff Samuel, Matt Tolfrey, and the Martin Brothers.
• Hejdrop @ Blondies, headlined by Steve Bug and Mikael Stavostrand.
• No Way Back @ Bohemian National Home, headlined by Derek Plaslaiko.
• Beretta Resolution @ The Works, headlined by Aril Brikha, Omar S, and Reference.

The last two of which extend long into the early hours of Monday. So if you're up for it, you could certainly hit up one of them after going on the boat.

By: Reuben Sweeney