It's been a month since the last Hard Fest at the Forum was shut down unexpectedly by police in riot gear, but founder Gary Richards, better known as DJ Destructo, is keeps dealing with the burn. "I'm still in shock," he said. "I never thought I'd do an event at the Forum and it'd get shut down. That's like saying you're gonna do a show at Madison Square Garden and it gets shut down. Are you kidding?" Unfortunately, the city authorities were not. When patrons didn't like their second-level first-come first-serve general admission seats, they decided to take matters in their own hands and climb down to the first floor. While Richards says he was able to get them to stop, it was too little too late. (In a cruel twist, the first Hard event was held on the streets of downtown, and they made it through with nary a scratch.)

With Underworld never able to take the stage, Hard Summer Fest was a big letdown for fans and promoter alike. Richards is still in the midst of reimbursing fans from the eclipsed event, with cash-paying customers still being worked out.

Fortunately, people do get second chances. For Halloween weekend, Hard is doubling the pleasure, but hopefully not seeing a repeat of Hard Summer Fest's fate. The Hard Haunted Mansion is two days of Hard favorites, including Deadmau5, 2 Many DJs, the Bloody Beetroots, Justice, Steve Aoki, and Basement Jaxx. The good news for fans of the series is that it's back at a more familiar venue. "We're going back to the Shrine, which is what we know," said Richards. "We've done four successful events there. We are not going to be able to go that big, but we are going to go two nights."

And unlike the Forum location, Richards believes the Shrine is going to be a better venue in terms of flow than the Forum. "At the Forum, there was no flow, and everyone bottlenecked in the beginning." The two-day set up "spreads it out more, and gives more artists a bit more time," he said. "I like doing events where it's one stage and everyone's experiencing the same thing at the same time."

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