07.29
With EDC 2009 in the books (and the Coliseum still presumably being cleaned up), candy kids and veteran ravers are no doubt looking for their next sonic fix. Fortunately for us all, Gary Richards and his crew are back on Saturday August 8th with the HARD Summer Festival: their next installment of the increasingly popular festival series that has taken Southern California (and soon, NYC) by storm.
If you attended HARD Haunted Mansion, you know that Richards has some big shoes to fill, shoes that tore at the seams last Halloween thanks to thousands of dancing feet and unforgettable sets by Soulwax, Simian Mobile Disco, and Deadmau5, to name a few. This year is primed to be no different. In addition to moving his operation to the legendary Forum in Inglewood, CA., Richards is bringing us a very special live set from electronic music pioneers Underworld. The seminal British duo of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith have 20 years of forward thinking, bass pumping, electronic music under their belts, and still consistently produce a wide body of work that manages to strike the balance between danceability and musicality that much contemporary dance music sorely lacks. Their trips to Southern California are extremely infrequent (their most recent show being at the Hollywood Bowl in September 2007) and are guaranteed to please the ears of the young and old alike. If you’re in the business of seeing living legends on the big stage, this concert experience is completely worth the [albeit expensive] $75 cost of admission.
Underworld Live at the Dortmund Love Parade, 2008
Other notable acts include the faux-funk outfit Chromeo, Italian electro dons Crookers and The Bloody Beetroots, Ed Banger flagships Busy P and Sebastian, and the incomparable Tiga, another talented Italian DJ who spins everything from techno to disco to electro. This multifaceted lineup is sure to please hipsters and veteran ravers alike, and thanks to the “HARD” work of Gary Richards, his music festivals are becoming synonymous with quality talent and smooth, seamless operation. The price tag is a little steep, but hey, we’re all resourceful people, right? You can make it work. I hope to see you there on August 8th, when the old stomping grounds of the Los Angeles Lakers becomes the new stomping grounds of, well, ravers.
© 2009, Rob. All rights reserved.
