- HARD has been having some HARD times. Last year's LA summer festival was shut down by riot police, ravers forced to wait for hours with the lights on and the music off before they were able to exit. Last month's HARD with M.I.A. in Los Angeles was canceled due to poor ticket sales, and the reviews from HARD NYC on Governors Island were a tad short of congratulatory.
Still, with Flying Lotus, Gaslamp Killer and several dubstep heavyweights like Skream, Benga and Caspa on the bill, HARD Summer Festival was worth a listen. Held downtown at the Los Angeles State Historic Park, the party had a beautiful backdrop of the city skyline for its two massive stages, an excited crowd of 18+ legal adults, and 8000 armed police officers.
Perhaps it wasn't quite that high of a number, but the police presence was the largest that I have ever felt at any party, anywhere. Drug dogs scoured the premises, along with city cops on four-wheelers and California state law personnel, as the venue was a state park.
At the entrance, which resembled a Disney line with a very long back-and-forth thoroughfare that indicated HARD was expecting way more people, my friend was made to remove her pink heels before we were patted ALL the way down: yes, that is my pubic bone, and those are my nipples. Outside the venue, big black police paddy wagons stood by ready to haul offenders away.
Once inside, I beelined past the main stage with Erol Alkan to reach the stacks of speakers where Skream was laying down some giant thwomping tunes in true dubstep-pioneer style. I was thirsty, but the line for free water stretched well over 30 meters, and the queues to buy bottles were not much better—kind of harsh for a party that had been going on since noon in the hot Angeleno summer sun. Many kids in the hour-long line for hydration did not appear to be faring well.
The music at the far stage redeemed the party, making the whole militaristic experience worthwhile. Caspa's big, slapping sound is perfect for a large audience like this; his track "Jahova" bounced like concrete blocks off the smiling heads of the crowd, many of whom had never before heard this dubstep titan. Following was Flying Lotus, whose innovative beats and visionary sonic twists represent the antithesis of traditional rave music and were lapped up by my thankful ears. The backstage area filled up when he went on, as VIPs and other artists came to listen to this revolutionary producer's sound.
The hour of Flying Lotus was most definitely worth the hassle of HARD. However the ridiculous lack of water sources combined with the insanely overwhelming number of cops scores this party way down in my book. If the promoters and the city of LA are going to call out a small army of law personnel at a summer day rave in the name of "safety," then at least give the kids some goddamn water.