So begins a new year, and hopefully a new direction in an increasingly stale music scene. While many fantastic rock albums appeared this year from well-known artists-Radiohead's In Rainbows, The Shins' Wincing the Night Away, and Wilco's Sky Blue Sky, the most elegant release of '07 was the much-anticipated Cross from the French duo Justice. After bubbling beneath the surface of mainstream success with their Simian remix of "We Are Your Friends" in 2003, and a slew of catchy singles, their full-length LP has won them much-deserved praise and attention. How perfect then, that the new year should be brought in by 2007's golden boys. If you were lucky enough to see one of the two sold-out shows in NYC at Terminal 5, or any other of their appearances this year, you already know that the kinetic energy of their music pulses out from their turntables and through their audience. No place was a better example of that than their appearance at the HARD New Years Eve party in downtown Los Angeles. Eschewing their normal stage set, the two appeared behind an even larger, brighter and taller illuminated cross for a fantastic DJ set.
Wait, I've gotten ahead of myself.
After a last minute decision, I accompanied some of my best friends to LA for HARD NYE, an outdoor festival that advertised three stages, performance art, and sets from some of the more notable names in electronica. I braved the ticket prices, and the 900 mile drive to LA (not so pleasant with 5 in a Subaru station wagon-though I think it was a nice little bonding experience) to dance till it hurt. How did it measure up? Well, like the year that ended, it was a mixed bag. First the lines to enter were extremely long. This was to be expected and actually turned into a positive experience as while I waited for my pat-down, none other than Busy P walked right past me into the festival (I don't normally get all gushy, but it was BUSY P!). Upon entering, however, I found to my dismay that the festival organizers provided no schedule for their line-up, so we ended up walking towards one of the smaller stages just in time to catch A-Track's set. The promised "third stage" proved to be nothing more than a local radio station playing what sounded like an iPod on shuffle (there was another stage within the VIP area, though it did not look worth the extra $100 for a VIP ticket). Because we had waited in line for so long, however, we got precious little opportunity to really explore the venue before we moseyed on over to the mainstage area for the midnight countdown from Peaches. Her performance, however was marred by sound problems which continually cut out half of the sound system. As for Peaches, she was, well, Peaches. Nothing unexpected from her, though her gyrating dancers proved to be a welcome distraction from an otherwise mild set-maybe I was too anxious for Justice. After her vulgar and expletive-filled countdown, it was time for the real show.
A fifteen minute interval of silence brought most people to a stop, as nobody wanted to leave their space, and the crowd began to swell in numbers, eager in anticipation. As Justice began, their natural connection with the audience was more than apparent. Their choice of records relied heavily on their own album, and many songs seemed to be picked simply for the purpose of transitioning into their material. This was perfectly fine with me, as myself and most people in attendance wanted simply to hear Justice. I for one was still suffering from withdrawal after witnessing their set in October. As a DJ duo, Justice proved themselves to be both seriously involved (well, Xavier at least. As usual, Gaspar was working the crowd) and playful at the same time. The end of their set moved smoothly from Ed Banger-type electronica to a simple, unmolested playing of the Ronettes "Be My Baby", which also served as the transition from Justice to Busy P.
Ah, Busy P...I don't know where to start. If you haven't yet picked up his Rainbow Man EP, what the hell is wrong with you? The manager and owner of Ed Banger proved he deserves all that he is earned. His near-flawless set seemed to almost transcend the boundary between the audience and himself. Like Justice, he would tease the audience, throwing in snippets of dance classics like "Thriller" or more recent favorites such as "I Want Your Soul" by Armand Van Helden, while then boldly playing older tunes such as "Video Killed the Radio Star" in their entirety. Furthermore, Busy obeys the most basic rule of being a good DJ-have as much if not more fun than your audience. He was by far the most rewarding of any of the sets.
Alcohol service ended around the same time as Busy, and within an hour the venue looked like a ghost town, with only the hardcore fanatics and people too E'd out to care remaining. This brought to light the worst offense of the event coordinators, which I mentioned before-the failure to provide any kind of schedule. I expected the better performances to begin then, only to find out after speaking to some other people in the small crowd that most of the main acts had been playing simultaneously. 2 Live Crew, Whitey, and Steve Aoki had apparently all been playing at the same time as Justice and Busy P (though I later heard a visibly intoxicated Aoki played about the time I was getting in line). This annoyed me, as I would have gladly broken away from either for fifteen minutes to see the other headliners, thus getting the most for my ticket price. Additionally, some wonderful new acts played towards the end, though without a schedule it was near impossible to tell who they were. If anyone who was there knows who the fantastic duo with the computer and electric drums playing on the main stage were, please leave a comment!
All in all, HARD did prove worth the price. Nobody half-assed their set, and the only problems seemed to be related to a lack of organization and technical problems which can only be blamed on the promoters. Hopefully, they have learned from their mistakes and next year the party will keep raging, but the audience given the opportunity to be slightly more informed, and thus enjoy themselves to an even greater degree.
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