Hard Summer Music Festival (2018)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hard Summer is a two-day electronic dance music and hip-hop festival hosted in southern
California, and run by Live Nation, held every year during the summer. Hard Summer 2018 took
place the 4th and 5th of August. The festival returned to Fontana Speedway in San Bernardino after
previous years of it being held at the nearby at the Glen Helen Amphitheater & Regional Park, due to
complaints by the Speedway management over vandalism and general decruitment of the location.
Partnered with Insomniac’s health team, Live Nation sought to improve its safety for 2018’s event. i
Despite its efforts, controversy over music big festivals like this came up after 1 mortality and 23
injuries arose toward the event’s finale. [1]

Contents

 1 Introduction

 2 Hard Summer Day 1

o 2.1 Notable Performances

 3 Hard Summer Day 1

o 3.1 Notable Performances

 3 Venue

 4 Sponsors

 5 Change in Management

 6 Deaths and Injuries

o 3.1 Community response

Introduction
Hard Summer is a two-day
electronic dance music and hip-hop
festival run by Live Nation Entertainment.
Since 2008 to 2012, founder Gary
Richards has run annual Hard Summer
Music Festival, more commonly referred
to as “Hardfest” by fans. Live Nation
acquired Hard in 2012. Venues vary year-
to-year but are generally located in the
southern California area. [2]

Hard Summer Day 1

Close to 91,000 attendees
headed to the Fontana Speedway on

1 Hard Summer Day 1 Set Times from

https://twitter.com/HARDFEST/status/1024414636102189057
Saturday, August 4th, 2018 to attend performances headlined by famous DJ, Marshmello.
Performances started at 12:45 PM and
would continue until 11 PM with headliner
Marshmello concluding the day. Set times
were sorted out in accordance to popularity,
determined by the organizers, with a more
popular artist following the former. Fifty
performances were spread out across the
day over four different stages. [3]
Notable Performances
Notable performances were from
Louis the Child, Yellow Claw, DJ Mustard,
and Party Favor as they were part of the
lineup. That day, Yellow Mustard, aka,
Yellow Claw and DJ Mustard invited YG as a
guest performer during their set, to the
surprise of many, given the new release of
YG’s album. Marshmello performed his
original songs as well as remixes of other
artists, and even featured other artists’ tracks, including the song “Look at Me!” by XXXTentacion as
a tribute to the late SoundCloud rapper who was murdered. Ending his performance and concluding
day 1 of Hard Summer 2018, he performs “Moonlight”, a track he produced with another late artist,
Lil Peep, who died earlier that year due to an accidental overdose of fentanyl and Xanax. [4]
2 Marshmello performing onstage with lasers in front of 91,000 fans at Hard Summer
Day 1. Picture by Drew Ressler for Insomniac Events

Hard Summer Day 2

Close to 80,000 people attended
Day 2 of HARD Summer Music Festival.
The second day brought together more
diverse music than the first day, with more
artists ranging from hip-hop and R&B to
electronic dance music. [5]
Notable Performances
Headlining acts such as rising hip-
hop artist Travis Scott (with his new album)
and Virtual Self were seen alongside the
likes of rising stars such as Elohim and
Snakehips. San Holo performed at the
Harder stage, where he unveiled his new
song, “lift me from the ground” that was
released only two days prior to his
performance. Travis Scott made his debut
performance of his new album, Astroworld,
on this day and for many, it was the first time
hearing some of his tracks, as they were
only released the day before. Despite this,
most of the crowd banded around Travis’
performance at the Hard stage that night. [6]

3 Hard Summer Day 2 Set Times from

https://twitter.com/HARDFEST/status/1024414636102189057
Venue
For summer 2018, Hard Summer 2018 returned to Fontana Speedway, after past years
where Live Nation switched venues due to complications in stages, walkways, and general
directions. Despite using a familiar venue, the management decided to not use any references of
past layouts. They remodeled the venue layout entirely.
The two main stages, Hard and Harder, were placed on each end of the Speedway to ensure
each stage can hold performances that will not disrupt the other stages what are simultaneously
holding other performances. The smaller stages were placed in between, and were more offset
towards the south, so they were not in line with the music being projected by the two main stages.
There was a main walkway connecting two main stages with water misters hanging from tents to
cool down commuters going from one stage to another.
Overlooking the Hard stage, a Ferris
wheel was available for no fee for all festival
goers. The wheel remained open until 11 PM
when performances ended, however they did
not let people board past 10:45 PM.
The addition of more and larger
parking lots called for more expanded entry
lanes closer to the festival. However, despite
the increase in size, distance from the parking
area to the venue actually decreased, giving
festival-goers faster access to the entrance.
This is due to previous stages being moved
into the grassy area instead of outside, in the
pavement, where the now parking lots are. As
seen below on the map, there are four paths of
entry into the venue. Participants entering
through the Blue and Purple entrances must
walk through the set of bleachers before
reaching the stages, while the Green and
Orange entrances allowed people to enter
through the sides of the bleachers.
Before entering, each festival
participant must show valid ID (18+) and their
wristbands that were mailed to them about two
weeks before the festival. If a festival goer
happened to lose or destroy their wristband,
they are eligible to replace it for a $20 fee,
upon proof of purchasing their previous
admissions wristband. [7]

4 Venue map showing stage locations, restrooms, exits, health tents, and more.
Sponsors from hardsummer.com

The venue and event were sponsored by Corona, Smirnoff, Uber, Asics, and Red Bull.
Corona had its own section of the venue dedicated to a faux island paradise featuring a swimming
pool, bar (requiring a 21+ wristband), and various island paraphernalia. While the Corona Beach
area did have DJ’s playing, festival goers were quite close to the Harder stage, and were still able to
hear the Harder stage clearly and participate in whatever DJ is performing on the main stage. Red
Bull also had a designated section in the venue where it sold their drinks to festival goers near the
main stages. It is unknown how other companies contributed to the festival, day of. [8]

Change in Management
On April 2018, Live Nation announced that the safety department of Hard Summer will now
be partnering with Insomniac Events, to ensure a safer festival experience for its participants, due to
multiple previous causalities at past Hard events. EMC, Ground Control, security, traffic, and logistic
teams from Insomniac were brought in. The Insomniac Crew provided more filtered water stations
around the venue, positioned at the Purple Entrance and to the left and right of each of the two main
stages. [9] Despite changes made to improve safety, one death and several injuries were reported at
the event. [10]

Deaths and Injuries

Despite security pat downs and severe prohibition of drugs on the venue grounds, one man
died due to substance usage, while multiple others were injured and hospitalized. On Sunday 11:53
PM a man collapsed near the bathroom area. He was taken to the nearby San Bernardino hospital
where he succumbed to overheating and possible ecstasy poisoning. This was two less casualties
than the deadliest year, Hard Summer 2016. [11]
23 others were also brought to the hospital throughout the event for injuries mainly due to
heat exposure, with the weather reaching over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Doctors also described
many of these injuries were due to drug and or alcohol abuse. [12]
Community response
Despite a causality and many injuries, Hard Summer has not sent out any notices regarding
cancelling the event next year, nor have they confirmed a date for next year’s show. The festival’s
organizers issued a statement saying:
“It is with great sadness that we have learned a festival attendee has passed away following Hard
Summer this weekend. We extend our deepest sympathies to the individual’s loved ones, and we
ask that you keep them in your thoughts. The health and safety of those who attend our events is
Hard’s utmost priority, and we take every measure to create a safe and enjoyable environment. We
have no further information at this time, but we encourage the community to come together, support
each other, and always look out for one another in light of this tragedy.”
In past years, despite a lawsuit and multiple deaths throughout events, Live Nation has failed to
cancel any Hard Summer events, therefore it may not be likely they will cancel 2019’s show. [13]

References
i[1] HARD Events, LLC. (2018). HARD Summer | August 4 & 5, 2018 | Southern California. Retrieved October 26, 2018, from
https://www.hardsummer.com/

[2] Hard (music festival). (2018, August 26). Retrieved December 2, 2018, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_(music_festival)

[3] HARD Events, LLC. (2018). HARD Summer | August 4 & 5, 2018 | Southern California. Retrieved October 26, 2018, from
https://www.hardsummer.com/

[4] Mamo, H. (2018HARD Summer 2018 Day 1 Highlights: Marshmello, Louis the Child, Yellow Mustard & More. Retrieved
October 26, 2018, from https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/festivals/8468685/hard-summer-2018-day-1-highlights

[5] HARD Events, LLC. (2018). HARD Summer | August 4 & 5, 2018 | Southern California. Retrieved October 26, 2018, from
https://www.hardsummer.com/

[6] Mamo, H. (2018). HARD Summer 2018 Day 2 Highlights: Travis Scott, Diplo, Dillon Francis, Snakehips & More. Retrieved
October 26, 2018, from https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/festivals/8468784/hard-summer-2018-day-2-highlights

[7] HARD Events, LLC. (2018). HARD Summer | August 4 & 5, 2018 | Southern California. Retrieved October 26, 2018, from
https://www.hardsummer.com/

[8] HARD Events, LLC. (2018). HARD Summer | August 4 & 5, 2018 | Southern California. Retrieved October 26, 2018, from
https://www.hardsummer.com/

[9] Variety Staff (2018). Has EDM Peaked? HARD Summer's Attendance Suggests Dance Festivals Still Growing. Retrieved
October 26, 2018, from https://variety.com/2018/music/news/hard-summer-meagan-deschenes-interview-1202890753/

[10] Kaufman, G. (2018). One Person Dead, More Than 20 Hospitalized During Hard Summer Festival in California: Report.
Retrieved October 26, 2018, from https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/festivals/8469091/hard-summer-festival-1-
person-dead-23-hospitalized

[11] II, R., & Hamilton, M. (2016, November 30). Three who died after Hard Summer rave overdosed on Ecstasy, coroner
says. Retrieved November 10, 2018, from https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-hard-summer-rave-ecstasy-
overdose-20161130-story.html

[12] ] 1 Dead, 23 Hospitalized After HARD Summer Festival. (2018, August 06). Retrieved November 10, 2018, from
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/08/06/hard-summer-festival-death/

[13 Kaufman, G. (2018). One Person Dead, More Than 20 Hospitalized During Hard Summer Festival in California: Report.
Retrieved October 26, 2018, from https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/festivals/8469091/hard-summer-festival-1-
person-dead-23-hospitalized