We arrived shortly after 9, which is quite a bit later than we had planned but it always seems to take longer to get to these events than expected (especially when traveling from Hollywood to downtown L.A.). The line to the entrance and the security line only took about 15 minutes total, which I was impressed with considering we arrived at the busiest time. Security was pretty strict and actually made everyone take off their shoes, which I have only ever seen happen a couple of other times. However, I do understand Hard being a bit uptight, as they don't want to have the same poor relationship with The City of Los Angeles as Insomniac does.
The venue was The Los Angeles Historic State Park. Hard Summer has been held here ever since they got shut down at the Forum in 2009. People have a lot of mixed opinions on this venue, but I really like it. It is centrally located to downtown L.A. (if you are facing the Hard (main) Stage, you get a gorgeous view of the downtown L.A. skyline). There tends to be a lot of space, which can often be a problem at events like this. And, it is located right by the metro. Hard really took advantage of the proximity by making admission to Hard also include free rides on the Metro, and extending the Metro's hours until 2:45 am.
Breakbot
We immediately headed straight for the Discoteque stage where we saw the last few minutes of Oliver. I didn't see enough to comment on it too much, but he seemed to really have the crowd moving. After Oliver came Breakbot, whose groovy bass lines were a perfect way to kick off the festival. He played a lot of the favorites, but I think the highlight for me was an edit of 'Everybody Dance Now' (which, until that night I never thought could have been played a set without sounding cheesy) mixed into 'New Lands' by Justice. Check out a video of it below.Hit the jump to see more of my review on Hard Summer w/ Miike Snow, Bloc Party, and Boys Noize!
