- With recent tragedies surrounding the electronic music scene in LA, security was tight at this year's Hard Haunted. New rules were put in place barring glowsticks, pacifiers and children's backpacks. And unless you miraculously snuck in by hopping over a closely guarded fence, there was no way anyone under 18 was going to get into the show. Only after you passed through three ID checks, a bomb-and-drug sniffing dog, a shoe check, and a pat down were you even allowed to enter the event. With so many checkpoints, it felt like you were about to board a plane, not attending a concert.
After all that, though, plenty of solid electronic music headliners including Booka Shade, Boys Noize, Rusko and Erol Alkan as well as a "special guest" awaited. While waiting in line, predictions were being made about whom the special guest was going to be for the second night. Daft Punk was the rumor of choice, but it seemed unlikely that a group that could easily sell out arenas on their own would show up as unannounced artists for a 10 PM time slot.
The outdoor stage, Hard, showcased famous DJs while the indoor stage, Harder, focused on slightly more underground talent. The setup of the Harder stage was excellent. DJs played on a platform elevated 30 feet in the air backed by an exceptional light system. By comparison, the Hard stage wasn't nearly as elaborate, but could easily accommodate more people by virtue of being outdoors. An apartment complex walled off one side of the stage, so if you were lucky enough to know someone that lived in one, you could have had a perfect skybox view the entire night.
Despite the numerous amount of headlining talent on offer, the promoters did a fairly good job of scheduling A-list DJs at different times. It was tough for SebastiAn and Fake Blood to pull in huge crowds when Rusko and Bloody Beetroots were playing at the opposite stage. Rusko donned the British flag as a cape, and commanded the stage, screaming and jumping throughout his performance. Bloody Beetroots disappointed, however. Ever since the duo added Death Crew 77, some fundamental aspect about them has changed. The group has turned their otherwise danceable songs into thrash/punk remixes, and seemed to be in love with themselves a little too much. No one needs to hear three different remixes of "Warp 1.9" no matter how good it is.
Another letdown was the special guest. It turned out to be Miike Snow. When he was revealed, waves of concertgoers could be seen walking away, helping to add to the already extensive crowd enjoying Underworld. Despite the numbers, Snow still commanded a room-filling audience. And everyone there obviously wanted to be there, which is more than you could say for Underworld. There seemed to be a large segment waiting patiently for Boys Noize to take the stage. He closed the event with a superb, high energy set. Towards the conclusion, he put on "Yeah" and expertly layered it with lyrics from The Chemical Brothers' "Swoon."
Overall, then, Hard Haunted was a success. LA raves have struggled recently. Hard Summer 2009 was cancelled when the crowd got out of control, and tragedy overshadowed some great performances at Electric Daisy Carnival when an underage girl passed away. This time, promoters didn't oversell, there were no crowds pushing down fences and exiting the event was hassle-free. It was a refreshing change from past years. With strict rules, Hard Haunted thoroughly distanced itself from the rave scene. Only time will tell if this is the way that things have to operate for Los Angeles to continue to hold large-scale, safe and fun electronic music festivals.