HARD Summer, Day 1: Zeds Dead, Justice astound; tributes abound

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The crowd at Day 1 of HARD Summer (Photo by Roy Jurgens)
The crowd at Day 1 of HARD Summer (Photo by Roy Jurgens)

An estimated 50,000 children of the sun descended upon the well-trampled grounds of Glen Helen Pavilion for the HARD Summer music festival. This being the 10th (and final) HARD Summer helmed by founder Gary Richards, aka Destructo, the event had a typical playful innocence punctuated with many tributes to Richards, from fans and artists alike.  They were not the only tributes heard on this day.

To witness 23 acts on Saturday meant walking a total of 10 miles between stages — and the reward was a cornucopia of music that ran the gamut from tween pop to dirty grime to deep house to trap to dubstep to big beat house.

Some highlights …

Torontonians Zeds Dead brought element of garage, and electro, even delving into proper ’90s big beat whilst packing a field of kids who weren’t a glimmer in their parents’ eyes when some of these tracks first broke. They were preceded by French duo Justice, who brought an infectious electro-funk and disco feel to their set. The afternoon saw sunny sets of girly electro-pop from U.K. songstress Charli XCX and bouncy electro R&B from Norway’s Cashmere Cat. 

The main stage had a decidedly Francophone flavor, with Mercer, Tchani and DJ Snake (pardon my French), and the mysterious Malaa all delivering sets of roaring Euro future house and trad EDM interspersed with bits of trap.

Mobb Deep Forever (Havoc and A-Trak) paid tribute to their fallen mate Prodigy on the purple stage, as hip-hop was well-represented at HARD. Ghetts brought proper U.K. grime to the stage ,and because E-40 had an unexpected last-minute cancellation, and YehMe2 of Flosstradamus went on 30 minutes early to cover his absence. Tupelo twins Swae Lee and Slim Jxmm, better known as Rae Sremmurd, brought their trap beats to the teeming masses from the main stage.

The Night Bass stage saw a lineup of deep house acts Chris Lorenzo, Wax Motif, and Anna Lunoe, culminating with AC Slater, a veteran DJ whose star is on the rise. 

The Green tent was an absolute sweltering steam bath of humanity, with Doctor P, Kayzo, Must D!e and Saymyname delivering brutal sets of dub step and futuristic garage.

Old-school lions Doc Martin and The Egyptian Lover, and lioness Ellen Allien kept the Corona stage the most chill of them all, with a beach party feel and the older crowd (attendees older than 25) swaying to their beats.

Photos by Roy Jurgens