Skrillex, Odd Future, Gaslamp Killer, and Chromeo at HARD Summer Fest - Los Angeles State Historic Park - 8/6/11

Timothy Norris

HARD Summer Fest
Los Angeles State Historic Park
8/6/2011

Guys in rice picker hats and Jabbawockeez masks, and girls in booty shorts, sports bras and furry boots filtered into sunlit, grassy Los Angeles State Historic Park Saturday for HARD Summer Music Festival.

30,000 people were in attendance, so perhaps one shouldn't be surprised there were some problems. According to the public information officer for LAPD, 17 people were arrested, 16 of those on felony charges for narcotics and one for robbery. Also, of the thirty people who required medical attention, about half of those had to be sent to the hospital.

Gaslamp Killer, Odd Future, Skrillex and Chromeo reviews below this picture of two attendees, selected at random.

Photo by Roselle Chen

Gaslamp Killer
A large crowd sat as if at a giant picnic, waiting for Gaslamp Killer to start at the HARD Stage. As the curly red haired, mustachioed DJ got started just after six, someone shouted, "Kill it Gaslamp!"

He proceeded to mix in everything from "Paranoid," "I Am the Walrus," "All Along the Watch Tower," "Are You That Somebody?" and "Double Rainbow" into his glitch and dubstep set.

"If you ain't bouncing you need to bounce to this, bitch," he said, swinging his wild hair, going into rhythmic convulsions and occasionally mopping his face with a purple towel.
After a while the crowd's enthusiasm matched his, and folks began waving their arms in the air.

A group of guys got impatient, chanting "Wolf Gang, Wolf Gang, Wolf Gang," during Gaslamp's set. "Guess what? It's not time yet," he said, adding: "I'm a be real. I'm waiting for these motherfuckers too."

Odd Future

Timothy Norris

Finally it was time, and Odd Future's female member Syd tha Kid climbed to the stage, with a smile that filled her whole face. "What's up?" she said.

The crowd went nuts. Left Brain and Hodgy Beats, aka MellowHype, came in and started with "64." "Knock, knock! Delivery, I'm the rhetorician/ Body decomposition, ripping through your rhythm..."

Tyler, the Creator, foot still broken, soon hobbled on stage and joined the rest of his crew. "My foot fucked," he said. Sometimes sitting on a stool and sometimes limping around on one foot, his performance was definitely memorable. Fans knew all the lyrics to the songs and they sang along reverently.

"You got some big fuckin' titties," he said to one girl. "You got a fucked up hair cut," he said to another.

Whatever you may think about Odd Future, they're definitely intriguing to watch live. Tyler referenced his MTV VMA nomination for best new artist, as well as for video of the year for "Yonkers."

"All you motherfuckers gonna vote for me at the VMA's or I'm gonna kill your family," he said.

Still, he admitted that he was sick of performing the song. "I hate doing this, but you gotta do what you gotta do," he said. "Put your middle fingers up in the motherfucking air."

Odd Future finished with "Radicals," the crowd chanting, "Kill people, burn shit, fuck school."

Chromeo and Skrillex reviews below.