HARD LA took place at the Wiltern, a perfect venue for a show of this size. Security managed the crowds perfectly, closing off various dance floors as they filled up. This prevented overcrowding and stuffiness and ensured that everyone had plenty of space to dance.  

Other HARD events in the past, like HARD Haunted Mansion, have often been plagued by a lack of space, but it was not a problem at all on Saturday and dancers were able to truly enjoy the music without worrying about anything else.  

In addition, HARD LA offered something to fans of many different genres of electronic dance music. At 9:40 Oliver, a D.J. duo, took the stage playing many new hits like “Booty Clap” by Kill Frenzy, Brodinski’s “Let The Beat Control Your Body” and Oliver’s own remix of “Don’t Stop” by Foster the People.  

Oliver also highlighted a new sound, deemed LA Funky, with their collaboration with DESTRUCTO, “LA Funky”.  

DESTRUCTO hit the decks next and also pushed his new LA Funky sound and his upcoming EP, “Technology”.  Since Oliver already played “LA Funky”, DESTRUCTO treated the audience to the other two tracks on the EP, “Standstill” and the title track, “Technology”.  

Apparently Los Angelenos dig the new sound; when DESTRUCTO dropped “Technology”, a track that forces in the scene like Boys Noize have included in their sets, the crowd responded enthusiastically, jumping up and down in time with the beat. DESTRUCTO even branched out towards the end of his set, getting down and dirty with some hip-hop and hyphy songs.

Next, Jack Beats came on and changed the feel to their signature slimy, grimy British House. Some nice visuals of classic Jack Beats images, like their dripping logo and various images of skulls added to their heavy bass and wobbly tones. One of the more creative logos, however, was replacing famous logos, like those of the Teenage Mutant Turtles, NASA, and Atari with “Jack Beats” text.  

Visuals aside, Jack Beats played tons of their hits. The crowd cheered especially loud for favorites like Jack Beats’ remix of “I’m Not Your Toy” by La Roux, “Out of Body” and a remix of Passion Pit’s “Little Secret”.  The crowd definitely got the rowdiest for the Jack Beats smash hit “Get Down”.  

When Jack Beats dropped that jam, the Wiltern filled with energy all the way from the pit up to the balcony; dancers completely let go for at least the duration of the song. Unfortunately, Jack Beats brought the energy all the way down after nearly every song, killing lots of the momentum of their set when the crowd simply wanted to party.  

After Jack Beats, it was A-Trak’s turn at the table, and he made the most of it. A-Trak focused on lots of electro house bangers that got the audience moving early and often.  

A highlight of A-Trak’s set was the crowd-pleaser  “Big Bad Wolf” by Duck Sauce. By the middle of song, everyone in the theater was howling at the moon like their lives depended on it.  

And just as people dancing started thinking, “This song is great, but the Dada Life remix goes so much harder,” A-Trak complied. He transitioned seamlessly into the alternate version and raised the level of craziness exponentially. A-Trak also showed off his incredible prowess as a true D.J. by littering his set with masterful scratching solos that would have made legends like Grandmaster Flash proud.  

All in all, HARD LA was another wonderful evening put on by a great production company.  By now, HARD has given fans no reason to expect anything otherwise.  If this was a small preview of things to come, HARD Summer is going to blow Los Angeles away.  

Reach Alex Shapiro here.