Hard is an American 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.

Hard
GenreElectronic, techno, alternative dance, electronic dance music, hip hop, dance-punk, dubstep, house
Location(s)United States
Years active2007 -[1]
Websitehardfest.com

Hard Summer Music Festival

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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. In 2024, the location was changed to SoFi Stadium.

Hard Red Rocks

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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

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2007 Hard New Year's Eve Music Festival

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Date City Country Venue Line-up
December 31, 2007 Downtown Los Angeles United States Downtown LA Arts District Premier Events Center, Los Angeles Justice (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

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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]

Date City Country Venue Line-up
August 6, 2010 Oakland United States Fox Theater Crystal Castles, Rusko, Sinden, Proxy
August 9, 2010 Denver Ogden Theater Crystal Castles, Rusko, Sinden, Proxy, Destructo
August 11, 2010 Austin Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater
August 13, 2010 Chicago Congress Theater Crystal Castles, Rusko, Sinden, The Twelves, Destructo
August 14, 2010 Toronto Canada Koolhaus Crystal Castles, Rusko, Sinden, Destructo
August 15, 2010 Montreal Metropolis
August 17, 2010 Boston United States House 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 Sonar Crystal Castles, Rusko, Sinden, Destructo

2011

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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]

Date City Country Venue Line-up
Hard x Mouth Taped Shut
December 3, 2011 Stockholm Sweden Sturecompagniet Miike Snow Sound System, Chase & Status (DJ Set), Noisia, Alex Metric
December 9, 2011 Chicago United States Congress Sebastian 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 Coronet Groove Armada, Labyrinth, Zane Lowe, Beardyman, Madeon
December 16, 2011 San Francisco United States Warfield 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 States Showbox Sodo Digitalism (live), Jack Beats, Destructo
August 4, 2011 Portland Roseland
August 5, 2011 Oakland Fox Theater
August 6, 2011 Los Angeles Los Angeles State Historic Park Hard Summer Music Festival
August 8, 2011 El Paso Club 101 Digitalism (live), Jack Beats, Destructo
August 9, 2011 Dallas Granada
August 10, 2011 Austin Stubb's
August 12, 2011 Chicago Congress
August 13, 2011 Toronto Canada WEMF @ Madawaska Park
August 14, 2011 Montreal Metropolis Digitalism (live), Destructo
August 16, 2011 Boston United States House of Blues Digitalism (live), Switch, Designer Drugs, Destructo
August 17, 2011 Baltimore Bourbon Street Digitalism (live), Destructo, Dillon Francis
August 18, 2011 Philadelphia Electric Factory Digitalism (live), Switch, Designer Drugs, Destructo
August 19, 2011 Washington, D.C. 9:30 Club Digitalism (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

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Date City Country Venue Line-up
November 23, 2012 Fort Lauderdale United States Revolution Boys Noize, Djedjotronic
November 24, 2012 Orlando House of Blues Boys Noize (Canceled)
November 28, 2012 Washington, D.C. Fillmore
November 30, 2012 New York City Roseland Ballroom Boys Noize, Spank Rock, Djedjotronic, UZ
December 1, 2012 Philadelphia TLA Boys Noize, Djedjotronic, Love City DJS, Sammy Slice
December 2, 2012 Boston House of Blues Boys Noize, Djedjotronic
December 6, 2012 Montreal Canada Telus Theatre Boys Noize, Djedjotronic, Jordan Dare, Mayday
December 7, 2012 Toronto Sound Academy Boys Noize, DJedjotronic, Mark Hinnen, Rynecologist
December 8, 2012 Chicago United States House of Blues Boys Noize, Djedjotronic, Le1f
December 10, 2012 St. Louis Pageant Boys Noize, Strip Steve
December 14, 2012 Oakland Fox Theatre Boys Noize, Strip Steve, Le1f
December 15, 2012 Los Angeles The Hollywood Palladium Boys Noize, UZ, Destructo, Strip Steve, Le1f
December 16, 2012 San Diego House of Blues Boys Noize, Strip Steve, Destructo
December 18, 2012 Denver Fillmore Boys Noize, Strip Steve
December 20, 2012 Dallas House of Blues Boys Noize (Canceled)
December 21, 2012 Houston House of Blues Boys Noize

2014 Hard Straylia

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Date City Country Venue Line-up
April 24, 2014 Melbourne Australia The Hi-Fi Clockwork, Destructo, Oliver, Motez (producer)
April 25, 2014 Sydney The Ivy
April 26, 2014 Adelaide Thebarton Theatre
April 27, 2014 Fremantle Port Beach Sand Tracks RL Grime, Destructo, Oliver, Motez (producer)

See also

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References

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  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
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