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HARD Summer Music Festival 2017 Goes Harder Than Hard [Event Review]

August 10, 2017 By Phoenix Gonzales

The beautiful people, perfect location, and insane lineup made HARD Summer Music Festival 2017 unlike any other festival, and one that will easily be remembered forever. Despite its sudden change of venues prior to kickoff, the event did more than live up to its expectations at the new location of Glen Helen Regional Park & Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California. Being that this was HARD Summer’s first time at Glen Helen, one might assume there would be a few first-time downfalls; however, with Gary Richards (aka Destructo) putting on the event, there really wasn’t any. The festival was extremely organized, well spread out, and seriously had the best view in town. There were six stages total, all of which had amazing features to them. Our personal favorite – the HARDER stage’s gigantic pool. Not only was it accompanied by some of the finest music from artists like Graves, Bassnectar, Charli XCX, Justice, and Zeds Dead, but the water was insanely cool and refreshing in the heat.

One of the most memorable takeaways from the whole weekend was easily the HARD father himself, Destructo, playing a set that left everyone begging for more. It followed an announcement recently made by Gary that he will no longer be in charge of HARD and that the company will solely be run by Live Nation. He will also not be attending or curating Holy Ship 2018. Although fans are a bit disappointed, Gary is optimistic and has said that he left only to pursue an opportunity that he is going to share with everyone shortly. That being said, during his performance he gave his fans, friends, and family the show of a lifetime. For his last song he brought out the legendary Giorgio Moroder who played his classic track “Last Dance” by Donna Summer and it gave us all the right feels. Other performers at the HARD Stage included Dog Blood, Tchami, What So Not, Malaa, and many more.

At the GREEN Stage this year artists such as 12th Planet, Dr. P, Kill The Noise, and Brohug all served up some of the hardest and heaviest dubstep/ drum and bass sets we have ever seen. If we could describe the vibe of this hot and humid tent in three words it would be grimy, loud, and sweaty!

The PINK Stage was all about deep house music! It had a pretty sweet setup right next to the HARDER Stage and kept people dancing all day long. Something many might not know is that Anna Lunoe played a mini farewell set at HARD Summer before taking a break to focus on her baby she is set to have in just a few short weeks. Claude Vonstroke, AC Slater, Justin Martin, plus many more performed at this vibey house stage.

The PURPLE Stage was most definitely dedicated to trap and hip-hop. It was located on the highest hill in the park and had a really awesome panoramic view of the entire festival grounds. Some of the artists that performed here were Skepta, YehMe2, Oshi, and Kap G. This was one of the first shows Josh Young has done solo as YehMe2 since separating from festival-trap duo, Flosstrasamus but that didn’t stop him from absolutely murdering it. Kap G was also a weekend favorite at the PURPLE Stage.

Lastly, the Corona Electric Beach Stage was definitely the smallest but it was a perfect transition stage. The decor was super beachy and tropical, and it played hard beats from start to end. All in all, the festival was absolute magic and we can only hope that Live Nation will continue to put as much love into the events to come as Gary has done in the past. Until then, us ravers patiently wait for 2018 to roll around.