HARD Day of the Dead 2013

This past weekend, HARD Presents put on their second annual Day of the Dead festival near downtown Los Angeles. While the talent wasn't exactly anything new for HARD (repeat acts included Skrillex, Calvin Harris, and Boys Noize) the music definitely was. With a few tweaks in stage production and lighting, this year's Day of the Dead set a huge precedent for future festivals in Los Angeles.

Since the departure of the Electric Daisy Carnival from Los Angeles three years ago, festivals have been keeping to a one-day format, but HARD switched it back up with two-day festivals for HARD Summer & Day of the Dead. Of course, this increases profits and sales for the successful event promotion staff, but it also brings in a lot more talent. With an extra ~12 hours of music, there can be up to 48 additional producers (one per hour per four stages - a generous estimate).

It was quite obvious to those who attended last year's Day of the Dead that HARD is evolving. Aside from switching the name from the previous "Haunted Mansion," they are attempting to appeal to a wider range of listeners with a Discotheque Stage as well as an Underground Stage. Event goers last year might also remember the metal "awning" that covered the HARD-er stage - that was nixed for this year. In my opinion, that was definitely due to too many people climbing on it last year, which had producers Kill The Noise and Knife Party having to stop their sets mid-track to yell at stupid kids to get down.

The Underground stage was just as small as last year, and the Discotheque got a small upgrade in lighting, especially since there was such a large amount of huge names playing - Skream, Giorgio Moroder, Kavinsky (Live) and Masters At Work. The biggest upgrades came in the HARD-er stage and HARD stage. Aside from having the metal scaffolding removed, the HARD-er stage got wider with 4 new LED screens (two per side), at a 90 degree angle; also a couple of large (unfortunately non-animatronic) skeletons hung from the top of the stage, one on each side. While the production for the HARD-er stage expanded outward at ground level, the HARD stage went airborne. A thin (relatively) LED strip made its way from the top of the stage around to about parallel with the sound booth - about 150 feet back. On top of each side of the strip were three flame cannons that burst to life with any huge drop, along with one cannon on top of the sound booth.

As for the talent, I did my best as only one man to see as many acts as possible - but with producers like Nero and Skrillex, it made it hard to visit any other acts. Saturday, I made it to - Doorly, Kastle, Dusky, Salva, TOKiMONSTA, Maxim, Zeds Dead, Kavinsky, Nero, and Skrillex. Of Saturday, these are the results:

• Biggest Let-Down: Maxim. It was my fault for expecting a member of The Prodigy to play similar to The Prodigy by himself. Playing mostly UK hip-hop and trap, he fell short of the rager that I was expecting.
• Biggest Surprise: Salva. I had never heard of him until I saw him, and was immediately impressed. Though he played hip-hop and trap, genres I'm not a huge fan of at festivals due to the crowds they draw, his live mixing and charisma on-stage somehow made everything sound much better. All of that, and an excellent tracklist made him a pleasant surprise for me.
• Best of the night: Nero. Having seen Nero five times before, never seeing the duo together, this night was especially special. Playing only original tracks and their own remixes, including an appearance by vocalist Alana Watson, Nero put on an incredible performance. The lighting guys had all the right colors and timing to make every drop, build up, and break down as epic as possible.
• Best moment of the night: Nero dropping The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army. Completely unexpected considering the tracklist so far, they played it to near original state, just adding a massive amount of bass. And it was glorious.

With my body in shambles, I retreated home at midnight on Saturday to recoup and come back the next day. The second day was much less eventful, only arriving at 7 p.m., I headed straight for Skream. Known as one of the first producers to spearhead dubstep culture, his set at the Discotheque was uniquely subdued and way more funky. Assisted by guest MC Mala, Skream went disco, proving that he's certainly not a one-trick-pony. Next up was another first time for me, Pretty Lights. Unfortunately separated from his live band, he still put on one hell of a show, probably my second favorite of the weekend. The crowd felt the chill vibes and grooved along to the jazzy, glitchy beats. The lighting technicians, again, did not let me down as they put on a hell of a light show for every drop and groove. And then just as Pretty Lights signed off, Deadmau5 was just getting ready to go on at the HARD stage. Unfortunately, the crowd was just too massive to get a good spot and I was stranded behind the sound booth with nary a line of sight to the ear-clad Canadian. I stayed for as long as I could muster, while he threw out classics like 'FML' and 'Moar Ghosts n Stuff,' but ultimately left about a half hour before the festival finished.

Funny enough, I passed Paper Diamond on the way out closing out the HARD-er stage. Just this summer at HARD Summer he only had a 3 p.m. timeslot. Awesome to see what a producer can accomplish in just a few short months.

All in all, I would call Day of the Dead a massive success and a huge step in the right direction for festivals in Los Angeles. Both nights, security took no longer than 20 minutes and it was hassle-free all the way. Food prices notwithstanding, the team at HARD did a fantastic job throwing the biggest party of the Halloween season. I'm definitely looking forward to what they have to show us next year.