Hard Summer once again was a huge success for Insomniac and its attendees. In summary, the festival brought in 160,000 music lovers who raved the weekend away to their favorite artists.
Insomniac made sure to keep safety measures around COVID and the Delta variant as well. Employees of the festival had to wear masks if not vaccinated, along with Insomniac offering COVID shots in the medical tent. Also, attendees had the choice of free masks and the ability to use multiple sanitation stations. Plus, the whole festival took place outside at the massive NOS Events Center.
Headliners at Hard Summer
Headliners this year at Hard Summer consisted of Future, Rezz, Kaytranada, RL Grime, Baauer, Don Toliver, Jauz, Ekali, Lil Dirk,Maya Jane Coles, G Jones, Eprom, A-Trak, Wax Motif, DJ Snake, Malaa, Dillion Francis, 2 Chainz, Skream!, Kayzo, Iann Dior, Hulk Gang (aka Valentino Khan + 4B), Slushii, Joyryde, Saymyname, and Solardo. The only change up in the headliner list was a replacement of Valentino Khan for Flosstradamus.
Moving forward, some of our most enjoyed sets this year were closers Rezz, Malaa b2b DJ Snake, Dillion Francis, and Kayzo. Rezz closed out the Harder Stage Saturday and Kayzo closed it Sunday. Dillion Francis closed the Hard Stage Saturday and Malaa b2b DJ Snake closed it Sunday giving the festival a double bang ending.
About the Shows
Having over a year to prep their new music and live sets, all artists were able to surprise fans with a new experience. Yes, understandably – the headliners absolutely delivered, but numerous artists beyond that received good reviews from their fans. Major highlight here included The Bad Boys Club, Skream!‘s Old School Dubstep set, RL Grime b2b Baauer, and Walker & Royce. Some say this was the best Hard Summer yet, and as a fellow attendee I can agree.
In Conclusion: Another Awesome HARD Summer
Hard Summer is one of Insomniac’s most popular festivals in SoCal. It lives up to its reputation for all of its newcomers. The festival provides 5 stages with drop dead lineups that showcase of artist from all over. Their ground and production crews are some of the best in the nation and they prove so with all the events Insomniac puts on. Hard Summer is only one of the many groundbreaking events they provide as well. If you haven’t been, you should add it to your musical festival bucket list for 2022.
Press shots
