Richie Hawtin @ Kappa Futur Festival 2014 // Day 2 // 06-07-2014
Turin (Italy) – Parco Dora
Richie, greeting italian crowd and playing awesome music on mainstage.
Sometimes the whole summer is a festival, but rarely does one festival make your whole summer. This past weekend even Richie threw in the towel. It does get this good.
July 5th and 6th was 2014’s Kappa Futur Festival (organized by Movement) in Turin Italy; where approximately 35,000 people blew the minds of over 20 class techno acts (and vice versa), settled under a gargantuan hybridization of steel structures and green living, in an unusual redevelopment of a formerly industrial car park.
The power of the masses swayed to the decisive music of techno’s strongest players- that have gone on to define the electronic music industry itself. (And ahem, without buckling under to the EDM beast).
Personal highlights amongst three stages included an incredibly convincing set by Maceo Plex, the energetic sound work of The Martinez Brothers, a classic contribution by Detroit’s own Derrick May, and I can hardly ignore the landing of the mothership during Richie Hawtin’s epic closing set, with its extraordinary light mayhem.
The industrial soundscapes however could not undermine the serenity of a city that remained Italian, surrounded by the Alps, filled with Baroque architecture, piazzas, palaces, and of course- Italian food.
A long stretch, from its Pre-Olympic history, where the car industry dominated the air with a much heavier vibe. Yet one could speculate that the magic stems from a former time, where nobles and great thinkers, frequented Turin, including Nietzsche’s and his own love affair with the city.
More interestingly in the festival’s history is its coming of age with the global Movement identity, which has gone on to represent solid techno curation, worldwide. After the Italian clothing line ‘Kappa’ partnered with the vision of Detroit’s Derrick May, the Movement festival sprouted in several locations, including Turin Italy in 2006. This was a timely collaboration following up on Turin’s own Winter Olympics, and massively contributed to the culture boom at the peak of the city’s change towards becoming an admirable destination.
Kappa Futur launched as a summer version of the Movement October festival, and the Movement brand now anticipates expanding its hard hitting sounds in growing destinations such as Dubai.
We’re sure to come back to Turin in October to gaze and hear the original form, and if you want a last grip of techno before the winter loom, you know where to go.