Mad Decent has thrown their annual block party since 2008 and while it had it’s humble beginnings, it has now expanded to become an international traveling festival reaching cities from Toronto to Atlanta. This year, I had the opportunity of catching this insane party in Los Angeles.
As I made my way through downtown towards the venue, I could hear a familiar beat slowly getting louder and see more and more people who clearly weren’t dressed for a normal afternoon out in Los Angeles. It was awesome to see so many people looking out of place, leaving the locals looking confused about what could have possibly drawn so many young people outfitted in neon colors and other ridiculous attire. Little did they know that professional mad man Riff Raff was dropping a set inside with CL.
After getting inside I walked into JAUZ tearing it up with his signature wobbles and groovy house breaks. After a huge performance at HARD Summer, it was great to catch Jauz in a more intimate setting at the Los Angeles Center Studios. While it was already getting crowded inside, there were still plenty of people waiting to get inside.
Nestky delivered an astounding performance, taking the crowd on a journey with a variety of trap and drum n bass tunes. It was a good contrast to all the other artists playing tracks that you would normally expect to hear at an event like this and I’m glad the Mad Decent team went through the effort of finding someone who could change it up a bit.
After, T-Pain took the stage and immediately stole every girl's heart in the venue.
The most anticipated set of the night, Major Lazer, was simply insane with a variety of their wonky tracks and bouncy moombah beats. The entire Major Lazer squad kept the crowd jumping into the close of the night. With plenty of confetti blasts and a crowd that knew just about every single word to their set list, it was safe to say that this was the block party that it was meant to be. If you missed out on this years Block Party, be sure to hop on the waiting list for the Mad Decent Boat Party in November because with Mad Decent, the party doesn't stop.
Photographer: Austin Braunschweiger