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ON THE FLOOR


Dillon Francis


Party HARD Summer I


t is day two of the annual HARD Summer music festival and DJ Mag USA are waiting to catch a metro at Union Station to take us


to its home in the Los Angeles Historic State park in Chinatown. Thousands of scantily clad boys and girls await the next gold line train as the long forgotten Los Angeles metro becomes the preferred mode of transportation to the festival site. The irony in Angelinos taking public transportation is not far from the irony of Hard founder Gary Richards becoming the king of the Los Angeles electronic music festival scene. The man who, in the past, refused to call his events raves is ironically the lone man standing in the world of massive electronic events in Los Angeles.


It is hard to believe that just four years ago at this same event (albeit a different venue) we got tear gassed for the first time ever as the Los Angeles Swat team descended on the Forum for what had to be one of the worst nights in our life, as well as one of what we imagine to be one of the worst nights in Richards’. That seems so far in the distance from today. Somehow Richards was able to rebound and outlast the awful public and press attitude towards these types of events in the city of Los Angeles. The man who detests the word ‘rave’ has become the king of them in the city of Los Angeles; that is a fact.


With Insomniac all but abandoning the city three years ago after an incredibly bad scandal and the unfortunate death


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of a very young girl, it left a hole in the massive rave landscape — one that Richards was in an opportune spot to take advantage of. And after a multitude of very successful events culminating in this year’s HARD Summer, it is official that Richards is in the driver seat of electronic music in The City of Angels.


HARD events have never come close to the production value of Insomniac events, winning over fans with line-ups complementing the ever-evolving electronic music landscape instead of millions of flashy lights. Yet with the beautiful Los Angeles skyline in the background, the park is one of our favorite venues to see an event. Already in its third year here, this year’s event is leaps and bounds better organized than its predecessors. Lines to get in are quick, and sound bleed from stages is nowhere to be found. Gone are the bottleneck points that the awkward dichotomy of the Los Angeles Historic Park is known to have, and in its place are four solid stages that bring amazing music to the masses over the weekend.


The brilliant British duo Disclosure is killing it as we walk into the first day of HARD Summer. Playing on the Underground Stage, Disclosure bring their catchy lyrics and funky beats and put on one of the best shows of the weekend. With ‘Settle’ one of the best albums of recent times, it is hard to argue that any electronic act is having a better year than these two Englishmen. Highlighted by an amazing rendition of


With less focus on flash and more on quality of artists, HARD Summer brings the bass to downtown Los Angeles.


‘Latch’, with everyone in the crowd singing along, Disclosure is not to be missed — believe the hype.


From the R&B grooves of Disclosure over to the intense techno of Dog Blood, the night takes one of its first turns. Being one of the biggest Skrillex haters in the past, and one of the biggest Boys Noize fans around, when I first heard they were working together I had nothing but negative thoughts, but as a crowd of kids get down as fuck in front of me it all seems to make sense. Dog Blood is able to somehow make it seem as if dubstep and hard techno are a match made in heaven. It’s just really fun music that has something for almost everyone. When they drop their remix of A$AP Rocky’s ‘Wild for the Night’ they have even the most cynical of electronic music fans jumping up and down.


What is amazing about HARD Summer is that at any time of day you can catch a multitude of different types of electronic


genres. House is ever prevalent, once again ,with so many different takes on it: Julio Bashmore’s groovy minimalism, Alex Metric’s throwback vibe, Claude VonStroke’s prevalent Dirtybird sound, and Zedd’s big room prowess. Alongside this is Flying Lotus’ heavy bass sound, Bassnectar’s Colorado-influenced glitch, Knife Party’s big room take on electro, and a multitude of DJs now playing trap music. While on the subject of trap, it’s amazing how much trap has opened EDM to a completely different group of people. Just like David Guetta did with mainstream pop music, these new trap stars are providing the gateway for mainstream rap fans. Whether this is good or bad we’ll let you decide, but while listening to TNGHT perform it sure is a fucking party.


Day two starts and ends watching the infamous Ed Banger crew. Almost signaling a changing of the guard, the crowd gathered before them is a fraction


Pics: POWERS IMAGERY


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