Photo By: Calder Wilson
The 11th edition of Hard Summer has officially wrapped up last weekend and music fans all around are still buzzing about how amazing this year was.This year showcased a wide variety of hip-hop and dance music artists with a huge crowd of 80,000 fans per day. With so many complications at this venue in the past, Hard definitely delivered this year on their promises with major improvements all around the Fontana Speedway in California.
For starters, this year brought 5 free parking lots and 1 paid premier lot all around the festival grounds. Although there were long lines to get in and out of the lot, each lot was a short walk to 4 different entrances that lead to the actual grounds.
Photo By: Doug Van Sant
The stage set-ups were also very impressive this year. Both the Hard and the Harder stages were packed with monumental speakers and tons of LED screens and lights. The Hard Stage had a very accommodating VIP section, which included a personal bar and bathroom, hookah lounge, beer pong tables, and a giant pool conveniently located on the left side of the stage. Each stage was strategically located on the grass areas of the speedway to improve the amount of walking, and there was even a lengthy tent filled with water sprinklers that would help transport fans from stage to stage.
Saturday brought in a crowd of over 80,000 people. Many notable dance acts such as Burns, Party Favor, Slushii, and Louis The Child had killer DJ sets, while rappers such as Rick Ross and Jaden Smith had groundbreaking performances on other stages.The crowd was filled with fans on shoulders raging together with a large array of “Saturday Are For the Boys” and fraternity flag totems.
Photo By: Drew Ressler
Closing the night, Marshmello performed a beautiful headlining set on the main stage, as he dropped tracks from two famous soundcloud rappers who we lost this year. One from XXXTentacion and the other from Lil Peep. It was truly a memorable way to end day one of the festival.
Photo By: Doug Van Sant
Sunday brought in a crowd of over 70,000 people. A-Trak and Baauer had a crazy back to back set on the Harder stage, brilliantly fusing both of their trap and hip hop backgrounds to deliver some necessary head bangs and mosh pits the crowd desperately wanted. Diplo and Dillon Francis also had an amazing back to back set on the Hard stage, as they brought a real life Nascar car on stage. The set was filled with sounds of trap, hip-hop, and moombahton as tons of flashing fireworks lit up the whole sky. Trippie Redd cancelled his set last minute but luckily newcomer, Sheck Wes was there to fill the void with a mosh-filled hip-hop set. The night ended with a fantasy-filled set from Virtual Self, as he lit up the Harder stage with strobing lights and beautiful visuals. On the other side, we received a huge headlining set from Travis Scott, who premiered songs off his brand new album, Astroworld. The crowd was roaring with rage, as CO2 blasted the crowd of fans and flames blazed up the night sky. Nearing the end of his set, Travis noticed a fan on a wheelchair being held up high in the crowd and then proceeded to ask the crowd to carry him to the front of the stage, so he could be elevated on stage with Scott to have an unforgettable experience.
Photo By: Calder Wilson
Hard Summer 2018 was truly an unforgettable experience, both Saturday and Sunday. Festival-goers all throughout the speedway were seen raging and enjoying their time, as the major improvements were very necessary but truly helpful. If you didn’t get the chance to go this year, I would definitely recommend going next year!
Connect with HARD Summer:
https://www.facebook.com/HARDFEST
https://www.twitter.com/HARDFEST
https://www.instagram.com/HARDFEST
https://www.hardsummer.com
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