Hard (music festival)

Last updated
HARD FEST
Genre Electronic, techno, alternative dance, electronic dance music, hip hop, dance-punk, dubstep, house
Location(s)United States
Years active2007 - [1]
Website hardfest.com

Hard is a national music festival, music cruise and concert brand founded in 2007. The event line-ups consist of alternative and electronic acts and emerging talents. The first Hard Music Festival was held on December 31, 2007 in Downtown Los Angeles and featured Justice, Peaches and 2 Live Crew. Hard is best known for the Hard Summer Music Festival and Hard Haunted Mansion, though also runs several smaller events and one-off shows. Hard is sometimes called "Hardfest" by fans, based on the event's website and social media shortcuts. Additional Hard brands include the Hard Summer, Hard Red Rocks, Hard at Electric Daisy Carnival, and the Holy Ship! electronic music cruise, and former events include Hard Day of The Dead, Hard 13, Turkey Soup and Hard Miami. Live Nation Entertainment acquired Hard in 2012. In 2013, Live Nation handed control over to Insomniac Events in their merger.

Contents

Hard Summer Music Festival

Since 2008, Hard has run an annual Hard Summer Music Festival. The first was held on July 19, 2008 in Downtown Los Angeles at the Shrine Exposition Hall. In 2009, Hard Summer changed venues to The Forum. The Inglewood police department and fire marshals were forced to shut the event because it was declared a "hazard" by the fire department. In 2010, the venue changes to again to the Los Angeles State Historic Park, where it continued to be held until 2014, when it moved to the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area in El Monte, California. In 2015 Hard Summer once again switched venues to the Fairplex in Pomona, California.

In 2016, Hard Summer moved to the Fontana Auto Club Speedway and hosted around 146,000 people. [2] For its 10th anniversary in 2017, the festival was set to return to the Auto Club Speedway; however, after a notable decline in ticket sales, LiveNation moved the event to Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California. About 80,000 people attended the two day weekend. Hard Summer 2018 returned to the Auto Club Speedway in August 2018, where it remained in 2019.

In 2020, Hard Summer was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival resumed in 2021, and moved location to the NOS Event Center in San Bernardino, where it remained in 2022. In 2023, Insomniac stated that the event would be held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Exposition Park, and BMO Stadium, making it the first time since 2010 that a major Insomniac event was hosted in Los Angeles.

Hard Red Rocks

In March 2013, Hard Events announced that it would be hosting a new event in Colorado called Hard Red Rocks at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The event took place on August first of that year, and has returned to that event annually. Hard Red Rocks 2018 is set to take place on August second feature guests including DJ Snake, Virtual Self, Mija, GG MAGREE, and Hekler.

National and International Tours

2007 Hard New Year's Eve Music Festival

DateCityCountryVenueLine-up
December 31, 2007 Downtown Los Angeles United States Downtown LA Arts District Premier Events Center, Los AngelesJustice (Dj Set), 2 Live Crew, Steve Aoki, Busy P, Dj A-Track, Whitey, Uberzone, Jason Bentley, Wired All Wrong, Young Americans, Softlightes, Trouble Andrew, Pink Enemy, Afrobots, Royal Palms, Dj Pubes (Obey Giant), Mid City West, Dj Skeet Skeet, Gina Turner Vs. Louisahh, Aaron Castle, Goddollars, Kool Aid, Destructo, Dj Jacques, On-Blast

2010 Hard Summer Tour

August 2010 marked the launch of the Hard Summer Tour, as promoter Gary Richards decided to take the party on the road; 12 dates scattered across the United States and Canada; Incorporating hip-hop into the fold. [3]

DateCityCountryVenueLine-up
August 6, 2010 Oakland United States Fox Theater Crystal Castles, Rusko, Sinden, Proxy
August 9, 2010 Denver Ogden TheaterCrystal Castles, Rusko, Sinden, Proxy, Destructo
August 11, 2010 Austin Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater
August 13, 2010 Chicago Congress TheaterCrystal Castles, Rusko, Sinden, The Twelves, Destructo
August 14, 2010 Toronto Canada KoolhausCrystal Castles, Rusko, Sinden, Destructo
August 15, 2010 Montreal Metropolis
August 17, 2010 Boston United StatesHouse of Blues
August 18, 2010 Philadelphia Electric Factory
August 20, 2010 Washington, D.C. 9:30 Club
August 21, 2010 New York City Terminal 5 Crystal Castles, Sinden, Destructo
August 22, 2010 Baltimore SonarCrystal Castles, Rusko, Sinden, Destructo

2011

Trent Reznor helped organise the event, seeking out the help of out Gary Richards from Hard to do so, stating: "I’ve always respected what [Richards] does with Hard, and I thought that was exactly what we needed." [4]

DateCityCountryVenueLine-up
Hard x Mouth Taped Shut
December 3, 2011 Stockholm Sweden SturecompagnietMiike Snow Sound System, Chase & Status (DJ Set), Noisia, Alex Metric
December 9, 2011 Chicago United States CongressSebastian Ingrosso, James Murphy, Proxy, DJ Eye
December 10, 2011 New York City Terminal 5 The Bloody Beetroots (DJ Set), James Murphy, Proxy, DJ Eye
December 16, 2011 London England CoronetGroove Armada, Labyrinth, Zane Lowe, Beardyman, Madeon
December 16, 2011 San Francisco United StatesWarfield Major Lazer, James Murphy, Proxy, DJ Eye
December 17, 2011 Los Angeles Palladium deadmau5, James Murphy, Proxy, DJ Eye
Hard Summer Tour
August 3, 2011 Seattle United StatesShowbox Sodo Digitalism (live), Jack Beats, Destructo
August 4, 2011 Portland Roseland
August 5, 2011 Oakland Fox Theater
August 6, 2011Los AngelesLos Angeles State Historic ParkHard Summer Music Festival
August 8, 2011 El Paso Club 101Digitalism (live), Jack Beats, Destructo
August 9, 2011 Dallas Granada
August 10, 2011 Austin Stubb's
August 12, 2011ChicagoCongress
August 13, 2011 Toronto Canada WEMF @ Madawaska Park
August 14, 2011 Montreal MetropolisDigitalism (live), Destructo
August 16, 2011 Boston United StatesHouse of BluesDigitalism (live), Switch, Designer Drugs, Destructo
August 17, 2011 Baltimore Bourbon StreetDigitalism (live), Destructo, Dillon Francis
August 18, 2011 Philadelphia Electric FactoryDigitalism (live), Switch, Designer Drugs, Destructo
August 19, 2011 Washington, D.C. 9:30 ClubDigitalism (live), Switch, Destructo, Dillon Francis
August 20, 2011 New York City Terminal 5 Digitalism (live), Switch, Designer Drugs, Destructo

2012 Hard presents Boys Noize Live

DateCityCountryVenueLine-up
November 23, 2012 Fort Lauderdale United States RevolutionBoys Noize, Djedjotronic
November 24, 2012 Orlando House of BluesBoys Noize (Canceled)
November 28, 2012 Washington, D.C. Fillmore
November 30, 2012 New York City Roseland BallroomBoys Noize, Spank Rock, Djedjotronic, UZ
December 1, 2012 Philadelphia TLABoys Noize, Djedjotronic, Love City DJS, Sammy Slice
December 2, 2012 Boston House of BluesBoys Noize, Djedjotronic
December 6, 2012 Montreal Canada Telus TheatreBoys Noize, Djedjotronic, Jordan Dare, Mayday
December 7, 2012 Toronto Sound AcademyBoys Noize, DJedjotronic, Mark Hinnen, Rynecologist
December 8, 2012 Chicago United StatesHouse of BluesBoys Noize, Djedjotronic, Le1f
December 10, 2012 St. Louis PageantBoys Noize, Strip Steve
December 14, 2012 Oakland Fox TheatreBoys Noize, Strip Steve, Le1f
December 15, 2012 Los Angeles The Hollywood PalladiumBoys Noize, UZ, Destructo, Strip Steve, Le1f
December 16, 2012 San Diego House of BluesBoys Noize, Strip Steve, Destructo
December 18, 2012 Denver FillmoreBoys Noize, Strip Steve
December 20, 2012 Dallas House of BluesBoys Noize (Canceled)
December 21, 2012 Houston House of BluesBoys Noize

2014 Hard Straylia

DateCityCountryVenueLine-up
April 24, 2014 Melbourne Australia The Hi-FiClockwork, Destructo, Oliver, Motez (producer)
April 25, 2014 Sydney The Ivy
April 26, 2014 Adelaide Thebarton Theatre
April 27, 2014 Fremantle Port Beach Sand TracksRL Grime, Destructo, Oliver, Motez (producer)

See also

Related Research Articles

Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from EBM in Frankfurt, Germany in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and quickly spread throughout Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rave</span> Dance party

A rave is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance music scene when DJs played at illegal events in musical styles dominated by electronic dance music from a wide range of sub-genres, including drum and bass, dubstep, trap, break, happy hardcore, techno, hardcore, house, and alternative dance. Occasionally live musicians have been known to perform at raves, in addition to other types of performance artists such as go-go dancers and fire dancers. The music is amplified with a large, powerful sound reinforcement system, typically with large subwoofers to produce a deep bass sound. The music is often accompanied by laser light shows, projected coloured images, visual effects and fog machines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fontana, California</span> City in California, United States

Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It is now a regional hub of the trucking industry, with the east–west Interstate 10 and State Route 210 crossing the city and Interstate 15 passing diagonally through its northwestern quadrant. The city is about 46 miles (74 km) east of Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atticus Ross</span> English musician, composer and record producer

Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Social Network in 2010. In 2013, the pair won a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for their soundtrack to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In 2021, alongside Jon Batiste, they won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for the soundtrack for Pixar's Soul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auto Club Speedway</span> Motorsport track in the United States

California Speedway is a 2.000 mi (3.219 km), D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, near Fontana. It has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It was also previously used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack is located 47 mi (76 km) east of Los Angeles and is near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track is owned and operated by NASCAR. The speedway is served by the nearby Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alessandro Cortini</span> Italian musician

Alessandro Cortini is an Italian musician best known for being the keyboard, guitar, and bass player in the industrial band Nine Inch Nails. Cortini is also the frontman for the Los Angeles-based electronic-alternative band SONOIO.

Live Nation is an American events promoter and venue operator based in Beverly Hills, California. Founded in 1996 by Robert F. X. Sillerman as SFX Entertainment, the company's business was built around consolidating concert promoters into a national entity to counter the oversized influence of ticket behemoth Ticketmaster. In 2000, the company was sold to Clear Channel Communications for $4.4 billion and operated as Clear Channel Entertainment until 2005, when it was spun off as Live Nation. In 2010, Live Nation merged with the ticketing firm Ticketmaster to form a larger conglomerate named Live Nation Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nocturnal Wonderland</span> U.S. electronic dance music festival

Nocturnal Wonderland, formerly known as Nocturnal Festival, is an electronic dance music festival in San Bernardino, California, United States, founded in 1995.

Together as One was an electronic music festival. It was held on New Year's Eve in Los Angeles. It was a joint production by promoters Go Ventures and Insomniac Events through 2010, but is now promoted solely by Go Ventures. Taking place in downtown Los Angeles, Together As One attracts audiences of over 40,000 dance music enthusiasts each year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric Daisy Carnival</span> Electronic dance music festival in Las Vegas

Electric Daisy Carnival, commonly known as EDC, is an electronic dance music festival organized by promoter and distributor Insomniac. The annual flagship event, EDC Las Vegas, is held in May at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and is currently the largest electronic dance music festival in North America.

Live Nation Entertainment is an American multinational entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainment in the United States and internationally. It also owns and operates entertainment venues, and manages the careers of music artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beyond Wonderland</span> American EDM festival

Beyond Wonderland is an electronic dance festival organized by Insomniac Events. The event has been held in various locations across the west coast including Seattle, San Bernardino, and Mountain View spanning either one or two days. As the festival continued to grow from its earlier roots, it branched into two festivals: Beyond Socal and Beyond Norcal / Bay Area to cater to the growing audience. However, this expansion of the Beyond series lasted for only four years before founder Pasquale Rotella announced that he would no longer continue having both Beyond Socal and Norcal to pursue expanding and creating other festivals of the Insomniac brand.

Club Glow is the longest running electronic music event promoter on the East Coast and venue owner based in Washington, DC. Established in 1999, they currently operate venues Echostage and Soundcheck and host numerous large-scale events and music festivals at the DC Armory and RFK Stadium, including Project GLOW and Moonrise Music Festival. Club Glow regularly brings top international talent to Echostage, and in 2021 the venue obtained the first place in the world by DJ Magazine’s "Top 100 Clubs," and has been voted as “the best electronic music venue in North America” since 2017. Club Glow became a subsidiary of Insomniac Events in 2020 and the creative partnership has helped the company expand throughout the East Coast and beyond.

Audiotistic Music Festival is a music festival that occurs annually in Northern California at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. Audiotistic is known for sporting a diverse assortment of genres, ranging from rap and hip hop to electronic genres drum & bass and dubstep. Previously, it was held in Southern California, USA, from 1997 to 2003 and from 2009 to 2011, in various venues such as the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino, the L.A. Sports Arena, and the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. However, on July 15, 2017 the festival returned but this time to the Bay Area with two main stages. The festival would continue to expanding by adding an additional day in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Richards (music executive)</span> Musical artist

Gary Richards, known by his stage name Destructo, is an American music executive, concert promoter, and DJ. As of September 1, 2017, he is the President of LiveStyle, North America. Prior to joining LiveStyle, he was the founder and CEO of HARD Events, a concert brand that has put on popular music festivals since 2007, which was acquired in 2012 by Live Nation Entertainment. He has performed professionally as a DJ under the name Destructo for over 20 years, having toured worldwide. He is credited with being a leader in the Electronic music business in North America, and through his events, has helped bring artists like Deadmau5 and Justice into the mainstream. Richards is included on Rolling Stone's "50 Most Important People in EDM" list, Billboard's "EDM Power Players" lists from 2014–2017, and inthemix's list of the "50 Most Powerful People in EDM". As Destructo, he has released four EP's titled Technology, Higher, West Coast, and RENEGADE respectively.

Insomniac is an American electronic music event promoter and music distributor. Founded by Pasquale Rotella, it is the organizer of various music festivals, including its flagship electronic music festival Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in Las Vegas.

White Wonderland is an electronic music festival co-organized by Insomniac Events and fellow club promoter Giant. The event was first held for New Year's Eve in 2011, following the announcement that Insomniac had pulled out of co-organizing the New Year's Eve festival Together as One due to conflicts with its fellow organizer Go Ventures.

Disco Donnie Presents (DDP) is an electronic dance music event production company, founded by James "Disco" Donnie Estopinal. Since the company's inception in 1994, DDP has sold over 16 million tickets producing over 16,000 live events, arena shows, and outdoor festivals in over 100 markets around the world including the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Latin America. Annually, DDP is responsible for organizing and promoting nearly 1,000 club events across the U.S. ranging from Portland, Philadelphia, Houston, Tampa, New Orleans, Dallas, and St. Louis to name only a few; plus major festivals such as Ubbi Dubbi, Sunset Music Festival, Freaky Deaky, Sun City Music Festival, The Day After, and Ultimate Music Experience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMO Stadium</span> Soccer stadium in Los Angeles

BMO Stadium, formerly Banc of California Stadium, is a soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC and the National Women's Soccer League's Angel City FC. Opened on April 18, 2018, it was the first open-air stadium built in the City of Los Angeles since Dodger Stadium in 1962. Constructed on the site of the former Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, it is located next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and just south of the main campus of the University of Southern California. Los Angeles FC subleases the site from the University which has a master lease with the LA Memorial Coliseum Commission for operating and managing the Coliseum and stadium properties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Escape Halloween</span> Electronic dance music festival organized by Insomniac in Southern California

Escape Halloween is an electronic dance music festival organized by promoter and distributor Insomniac. The annual event, which debuted in 2011, is held at the National Orange Show Event Center in San Bernardino, California on the weekend preceding Halloween, and is centered around Halloween and traditional horror themes. There are themed stages, Halloween walk-through mazes, art galleries, and costumed performers. Music genres include EDM, house, dance, electro house, drum and bass, techno, dance-punk, hardstyle, dubstep, trance, and more.

References

  1. Roberts, Randall (2010-05-30). "Dance music grooves to the fore". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  2. KABC (2016-08-02). "3 people die during HARD Summer Music Festival in Fontana". ABC7 Los Angeles. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  3. Time Out Chicago "HARD-boiled" August 12–18, 2010
  4. RollingStone.com "Trent Reznor Taps HARD Promoter For 'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' Events" December 12, 2011