HARD Fest LA
by Ryan Powers [ryan@slugmag.com]
Online Exclusive / Posted November 12, 2009 More Exclusives
[Bloody Beetroots Bob Rifo Photo by Holy Mountain]
Killing It
HARD Haunted Mansion Haunts L.A.
By Ryan Powers
Day one scoop by Jeff Larson (Hot Noise)
Photos by Rony Alwin (Rony's Photobooth)
Additional Photos/Videos by Holy Mountain, Ryan Powers, and Anne Lee
Halloween this year was celebrated a little different for throngs of electronic music fans in LA. The normal costumes you'd expect to see, you know, zombie Michael Jackson, the dude with the baby from the Hangover, etc., were replaced by Deadmau5 masks and almost-naked ravers.
Downtown Los Angeles transformed into a cross between a neighborhood Halloween blow out and full-fledged rave for the annual HARD Haunted Mansion featuring Justice, 2ManyDJs, Deadmau5, Modeselektor, Crookers, Bloody Beetroots, Basement Jaxx and many more. Despite the impossible bar lines (VIP tickets were eventually refunded due to the inaccessibility) and completely overwhelming crowd of e'd-out teenagers desperately massaging each other somewhere near the bathrooms; the caliber of the performers outweighed all negatives to make for one of the most exciting collaboration of DJs at a single two-day event I've ever seen.
I was only able to come out to cover the second day of HARD but was able to connect with SLC resident, DJ, and electronic music expert Hot Noise (Check his blog) for the day one highlights.
Reigning from the slightly more 'mainstream' side of electronic music, Deadmau5 headlined the first night of HARD with a surprisingly un-HARD set-besides a few well known-bangers, the set focused more on long builds and noisy breakdowns. The light-bar laden stage and lightshow was actually fairly well done, and while it wasn't in the realm of Etienne De Crecy or Daft Punk, it was mostly respectable with the exception of the CG 'maus5' heads that were straight-up lame. While it may seem I'm being hard on our rodent DJ friend, I spoke to a few Deadmau5 fans who shared some level of disappointment in the set (unless you happened to ask them during "Ghosts N Stuff").
The highlight of Friday, Italy's Bloody Beetroots played the best set at the festival, hands down. Anyone familiar with the minor, dark, and hard-hitting styles of Bloody Beetroots tracks such as "Butter" and "Warp 1.9" would not have a hard time imagining this as the perfect soundtrack to a halloween adventure.
Italy's favorite hardhitting electronic duo fit right into the Halloween Spirit, donning their signature Venom masks:
For day two of Hard Haunted mansion, I grabbed a few exceptional friends and rushed to The Shrine in the forms of Edward Scissorhands, Little Kitty, Siouxsie Sioux, Steve Aoki, and Mark Mothersbaugh (of Devo fame).
Here's a rundown of day two's highlights:
Giving the Bloody Beetroots a run for their money, Berlin's Modeselektor (read my Oct 2007 review of their album Happy Birthday here) taught the kids that you don't always have to play bangers to work a crowd into a frenzy-oh, and an on-stage alien autopsy doesn't hurt either.
HARD Haunted Mansion Haunts L.A.
By Ryan Powers
Day one scoop by Jeff Larson (Hot Noise)
Photos by Rony Alwin (Rony's Photobooth)
Additional Photos/Videos by Holy Mountain, Ryan Powers, and Anne Lee
Halloween this year was celebrated a little different for throngs of electronic music fans in LA. The normal costumes you'd expect to see, you know, zombie Michael Jackson, the dude with the baby from the Hangover, etc., were replaced by Deadmau5 masks and almost-naked ravers.
Downtown Los Angeles transformed into a cross between a neighborhood Halloween blow out and full-fledged rave for the annual HARD Haunted Mansion featuring Justice, 2ManyDJs, Deadmau5, Modeselektor, Crookers, Bloody Beetroots, Basement Jaxx and many more. Despite the impossible bar lines (VIP tickets were eventually refunded due to the inaccessibility) and completely overwhelming crowd of e'd-out teenagers desperately massaging each other somewhere near the bathrooms; the caliber of the performers outweighed all negatives to make for one of the most exciting collaboration of DJs at a single two-day event I've ever seen.
I was only able to come out to cover the second day of HARD but was able to connect with SLC resident, DJ, and electronic music expert Hot Noise (Check his blog) for the day one highlights.
Reigning from the slightly more 'mainstream' side of electronic music, Deadmau5 headlined the first night of HARD with a surprisingly un-HARD set-besides a few well known-bangers, the set focused more on long builds and noisy breakdowns. The light-bar laden stage and lightshow was actually fairly well done, and while it wasn't in the realm of Etienne De Crecy or Daft Punk, it was mostly respectable with the exception of the CG 'maus5' heads that were straight-up lame. While it may seem I'm being hard on our rodent DJ friend, I spoke to a few Deadmau5 fans who shared some level of disappointment in the set (unless you happened to ask them during "Ghosts N Stuff").
The highlight of Friday, Italy's Bloody Beetroots played the best set at the festival, hands down. Anyone familiar with the minor, dark, and hard-hitting styles of Bloody Beetroots tracks such as "Butter" and "Warp 1.9" would not have a hard time imagining this as the perfect soundtrack to a halloween adventure.
Italy's favorite hardhitting electronic duo fit right into the Halloween Spirit, donning their signature Venom masks:
For day two of Hard Haunted mansion, I grabbed a few exceptional friends and rushed to The Shrine in the forms of Edward Scissorhands, Little Kitty, Siouxsie Sioux, Steve Aoki, and Mark Mothersbaugh (of Devo fame).
Here's a rundown of day two's highlights:
Giving the Bloody Beetroots a run for their money, Berlin's Modeselektor (read my Oct 2007 review of their album Happy Birthday here) taught the kids that you don't always have to play bangers to work a crowd into a frenzy-oh, and an on-stage alien autopsy doesn't hurt either.
Modeselektor @ Hard Haunted w/The Fantastic Nobodies from Holy Mountain on Vimeo.
Photos:
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