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HARD L.A. the Latest Outdoor Music Festival to be Canceled [Updated]
[Update, 4:30 p.m: In a statement, festival organizers explain why the event has been canceled and what's next. See the bottom of this post for their explanation in full]
Scheduled for this weekend, HARD L.A. has now been canceled, according the LA Times. It is the second music festival to go wayside following the controversial Electric Daisy Carnival at the L.A. Coliseum, where more than 100 people were sent to the hospital, including 15-year-old who later died.
Although a recent ban on raves was enacted for only the Coliseum, this type of event has been under public scrutiny. For example, the Fresh Squeezed Music Festival 2010 scheduled for this past weekend was canceled -- twice.
But recent contoversy may have nothing to do with it as sales for HARD, which was more of a traditional concert -- featuring M.I.A., N.E.R.D. and Sleigh Bells, among others -- than a rave. Ticket sales were reportedly slow. Hard organizers say the event has been postponed, but documents obtained by the Times show otherwise.
"I think this event will definitely draw a way different crowd," said organizer Gary “Destructo” Richards to LAist in an interview posted earlier today. "I think M.I.A. and N.E.R.D. is as far as you can get from a rave. A lot of people don’t understand that but I think they’ll see when they come to the event that we have a completely different type of people coming to our show."
A HARD event scheduled for August 7th is still expected to go on. That one has been described by fans as a "full on rave." Both this weekend's and the August event were/are scheduled to end at midnight.
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"We’re trying to make it more like a music festival and less like a four-in-the-morning party," said Richards. "We’re shifting focus a little bit -- this is more about daytime, we’ve got ten different food trucks, and more fun daytime activities. I think that at four in the morning nothing really good comes about except trouble."
Related: Officials Form Task Force to Examine Safety at Raves
Update: HARD's Full Statement via their website.
HARD LA M.I.A. this Saturday July 17th has been cancelled, but not due to the lack of support or the full approval from the personnel at the City of Los Angeles and California State Parks who have signed off on our comprehensive security plan. We have decided to instead produce one massive event on August 7th at the same amazing location, the Los Angeles State Historic Park in Downtown Los Angeles. We continue to work closely with LAFD, LAPD, City of Los Angeles, and California State Parks who continue to support all HARD events and have approved our plan to operate the HARD SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL at the Los Angeles State Historic Park on August 7th 2010 featuring Soulwax, Crystal Castles, Major Lazer, Erol Alkan, Diplo, Digitalism and more.
Tickets for HARD LA are automatically valid for the HARD SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL. HARD will offer refund options July 13th via HARDFEST.com
HARD NYC M.I.A. in New York July 24 at Governors Island also continues as scheduled.
In lieu of the cancelled MIA show, HARD is producing an event this Saturday night with DIE ANTWOORD, Destructo, and Borgore to take place at the El Rey Theater.
For Ticketing information visit HARDFEST.com
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