Music Festival Review: The Mad Decent Block Party, Los Angeles 2012

            It was the perfect day for a block party.  The weather was hot, there was a small breeze, chronic in the air, and it was Saturday.  The best part about Mad Decent was that it was free, all you needed was a confirmation e-mail to enter; they didn’t really check that well for the authenticity of the ticket so we used 4 of the same ticket to get in. 

            We just missed Paper Diamond, which means we arrived at 2:30p during Casey Veggies set.  We B lined it to the alcohol section and got some booze while we waited for some friends.  The stage was going off!  We met up with our friends and pounded our drinks.  While we were exiting the alcohol section, Clockwork was wrapping up his last song and people were starting to leave the stage.  We found a pretty good spot by the tree and posted up till Bonde Do Role went on at 3:40p. 

            There was one stage, which I liked because it kept the “Block Party” theme in check.  The stage was at the top of the hill, so the crowd was on an upward slop.  It was kind of weird, I’m used to either standing on a flat or downward surface.  Anyways, that whole area was between 2 buildings, which gave us A LOT of shade, so we didn’t over heat in the sun.  The venue was pretty awesome, they definitely put some time in selecting the location and it showed.

            I’m going to be completely honest with you, Bonde Do Role and 3Ball MTY sounded like Mariachi House music.  I wouldn’t know what other category I would call it but I didn’t like it that much and the crowded didn’t seem to be feeling the performance.  I was definitely not impressed.  Then Paul Devro came on, playing dub step, hip-hip, and some trap music.  The crowd was definitely feeling this DJ and I was too.  He played really good music that had the crowd going at all times.  If Devro isn’t from Los Angeles I’d be surprised because his style encompasses that of the LA urban culture.  After Paul Devro, Munchi came on and he started off killing it.  He opened by playing some dub step, there was a lot of energy in the air at this point, mostly because Devro got the crowd hyped up.  Then Munchi started playing that Mariachi House music, killing the mood.  We go over Munchi about ¾ through his set and left to get food and more booze before Zeds Dead came on.  We ate and rallied back to the stage at 6:50p and got pretty good spots.

            Honestly, all I can say is that Zeds Dead killed it.  See them every opportunity that you can because they ALWAYS put on a solid performance, based on my previous experience.  The crowd loved it, we loved it, they loved it, the whole block was stoked.  Stoked I went. I'll score this festivals based on 4 categories: venue, average performance, crowd energy, and overall experience.  
Venue: 7
Average performance: 6.5
Crowd energy: 6
Overall experience: 7
Note: If Zeds Dead didn't headline, the average performance would drop down to a 4 but because they put such a great set together, that category gets skewed.  The overall experience is higher because the event was free.