Regular readers might recall a post we published last Wednesday asking which Derrick has been booked to appear at Futur Festival in Italy at the start of July. The question itself is quite simple – is it the 52-year old Derrick Carter from Chicago or the 59-year old Derrick May of Detroit?

Futur Festival could easily clear up this mystery by simply explaining what’s happened. They’ve chosen not to, seeing they’ve now refused to answer at least three emails from Ears To The House. So in the absence of a proper explanation, we have to start digging – making them look like idiots and providing us with more content in the process.

This post on Instagram from June 1st suggests that May is indeed appearing on July 2nd on the Futur Festival. So he’s therefore confirmed to appear, yes?

Not necessarily, it seems. Because a quick glance on the Futur Festival website reveals Derrick Carter’s name, but Derrick May is nowhere to be seen. Similarly, their page on Woov – which advertises itself as a “festival companion” – does not mention May either. Which means he’s not appearing now, right?

Again, not necessarily. This kind of trick has been used before – Club Shelter put his name on a flyer last year, before removing it and refusing to deny his appearance had been cancelled. So this could this simply be an honest mistake from Futur?

This might sound implausible, but we float the theory after a suspicious email arrived at Ears To The House over the weekend. It was from someone claiming to work for the festival – but who refused to provide a name. The email claimed the Derrick May listing was included “by mistake” and that these are simply the “original 2020 social media posters”. May’s appearance has since been “cancelled”, to quote from the very broken English used.

And whilst the IP address confirms the email was sent from Italy, it just raises further questions. If this was indeed a mistake, why has it not been removed? The June 1st post remains online as of the time of publication, a full two weeks later. Futur Festival have also replied to several comments on the post, but this one – with a great point politely made – didn’t…

So, has Derrick May’s appearance been cancelled? The best answer we can provide is we’re not sure – social media indications suggest he has, but dark arts are increasingly used when booking May to avoid scrutiny…