After bringing in the New Year with 2Live Crew, Peaches and Justice, the folks at HARD decided to bring more sizzle to Los Angeles. The HARD summer festival boasted a line-up straight out of a hipster's wet dream, featuring Hipster hopefuls Spank Rock and N.E.R.D. along with Electro fiends MSTRKRFT, A-Trak, Steve Aoki, Bloody Beatroots, LA Riots and more. Kid Sister was also scheduled but ended up canceling.

A hodgepodge of hipsters and ravers, plenty under the age of 18, packed the Shrine Expo Hall and the adjacent parking lot which housed the outdoor stage and mini-skate park. The indoor stage area sat in front of a massive dance area in which the sloppy and sweaty got down! A-Trak and Steve Aoki ripped the best DJ sets of the night. They invited kids on stage then bombarded them with dance inducing mayhem through Tommy-gun bpm's and electro-shock bliss.

Outside, Spank Rock sprayed the crowd with his unabashed, triple X clad porno rap. Amanda Blank joined the set accompanied by the same Swedish triplets that helped her shred the stage at Coachella, yes they did the same in L.A. N.E.R.D blazed through an assortment of new and old. They were refreshingly awesome live.

The night wasn't all shits and giggles though, security was absolutely horrid. They were rude, condescending and even got physical on several occasions, with photogs trying to do their jobs. No schedules and a terrible layout in which everyone had to enter the indoor stage through one entrance then exit through another about fifty yards away further added to peoples frustration.

HARD now looks ahead to Halloween for another solid event. And With the likes of Simian Mobile Disco, Crystal Castles and Boys Noize, it looks to be another epic culmination of dance goliaths. Lets hope they step up the organization and security!

By Andrew Medina