Do not be alarmed; the image at left boasts one very big and obvious falsity: French electronic music duo Daft Punk is not playing at this year’s HARD Haunted Mansion event, happening at the Shrine over Halloween weekend in downtown Los Angeles (although according to actress Olivia Wilde, the duo will make a cameo appearance in the movie “Tron Legacy,” for which they’re also crafting the soundtrack). 

Upon closer inspection, the flier also states that the event is happening at a location called “The Hudson.”

This ambitious forgery is just one of many rumors swirling around the Internet regarding the dance music event, including claims of a location change to San Bernardino and that the show is already sold out.

The popular HARD series of dance events garnered a whirlwind of notoriety after HARD Summer 2009 at the Forum was canceled as a result of raucous fans crashing the main floor area.

“HARD Haunted Mansion will take place Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31 at the Shrine as planned,” insists promoter Gary Richards via e-mail. “There are many rumors flying around that are false. All correct and up to date information and links to purchase tickets are available at www.hardfest.com.”

Patrons mill about in bright red hats with skyward-pointing lobster claws. Fingers retain the smell of butter and arthropod juice. Grown men wear pirate shirts and eyeliner, and the musical lineup features everything from a midget KISS cover band to some of the most buzzworthy East Side hipster bands. If the Lobster Fest is wrong, we don’t want to be right.

Set on San Pedro’s open, breezy harbor, the annual Port of Los Angeles Lobster Festival runs tonight through Sunday and claims to serve the largest amount of lobster anywhere on the planet. This year, the fest is gunning for a world record, with Guinness on site for the official weigh-in. A lobster lover by the name of Jim Hall created the festival in 1999, and this year he brought on Mark Sovel (a.k.a. Mr. Shovel, Indie 103.1’s former music director) to curate the lineup.

Tonight’s lineup features glam rocker Dilana, the Binges and Spider Problem, and Saturday’s roster is a who’s who of L.A. indie bands, such as Oliver Future, Dios, Love Grenades, the Henry Clay People and the keytar-wielding Dazzler. On Sunday, Gram Rabbit, the Happy Hallows and Dave Wakeling and the English Beat wrap up the festivities.

We chatted with Sovel about bands, crustaceans and what he’s been up to since Indie’s broadcast demise in January.

For the first time ever, they shut down Sunset Boulevard between San Vicente Boulevard and Doheny Drive for a music festival, and it starred the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne. Rockers Korn and the Donnas were also on the bill, as were goofballs Kottonmouth Kings, LMFAO and Shawyze, who gave the kids something to dance to.

All the legendary Sunset Strip clubs -- the Roxy, the Whisky, the Viper Room, the Cat Club and the Key Club -- were open if you had a $40 wristband. There were vendors serving all kinds of food, beer gardens, and women who wore the exact same stilettos they would have sported if it was a Friday night instead of a Saturday afternoon. Plenty of pictures after the jump.

Autumn is a glutton's feast for pop fans, full of blockbuster albums, buzzed-about debuts, spectacular arena tours and rare small-venue performances. This year offers the usual mix of veterans aiming for another moment of impact, and young pretenders working to make a mark in an ever-widening field.

That's good news for those with eclectic tastes: no one subculture dominates right now, so the listening is best for people who are a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll -- and a little bit dance and folk and Latin, too. What follows is a look at the best bets for recorded and live music in the coming months, album release dates subject to change, of course.

Rowdy fans shut down what was supposed to be an all-night dance event in Inglewood. Full refunds are being offered.

Will Fan had sprung for VIP tickets to Saturday night's Hard Summer event at the Forum in Inglewood. But before settling in for a night of dance music, Fan made a trip to the bar.

Then the night went haywire. A back door of the VIP section, where tickets began at $125, flew open and fans ran in from the parking lot in what Fan described as a "stampede."

"We saw about 200 kids run right through the bar area," said the 35-year-old Sherman Oaks resident. "It was a little scary. I saw the bartender push one kid down, but everyone else just ran around him. Eventually, security was able to stop more people from coming in. But the kids ran out of the bar . . . and basically hopped over the balcony and onto the floor. Then the music stopped."

The sold-out all-night Hard Summer concert, which featured a lineup that included U.K. dance duo Underworld and Canadian electronic rockers Crystal Castles, was halted at about 10:50 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which cited "hazardous life-safety things taking place inside the event."

Inglewood police dispatched a riot unit, and by 1:25 a.m. Sunday, more than 17,000 attendees had been sent home.

The Hard-brand dance events are the brainchild of promoter and DJ Gary Richards, who said he's looking at a "seven-figure" loss from the event's cancellation. Full refunds are being offered to ticket holders, and all artists will be paid.

"We were teetering on the edge of thinking things were getting out of control, and then all of a sudden those crashers came in and started leaping from the lower bowl onto the floor," Richards said. "How do you stop 500 people rushing the gate at the same time? You'd need military at that point."

Before any of the headline acts took the stage, the sold-out Hard Summer dance/electronic event was shut down at the Forum. As Pop & Hiss reported earlier, the event was declared a "hazard" by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, according to an Inglewood police representative, and the sold-out crowd was told to go home.

Promoters confirmed the "hazard" status late Sunday night. In a statement posted on the Hard Summer website and distributed to the media, organizers wrote that the event was destined for shutdown after concertgoers were seen "jumping from the balcony to the floor, along with numerous other potentially dangerous activities."

Hard Events will offer a full refund. The event wasn't cheap. Pre-sale tickets started at $55, and VIP tickets topped off at $145.

"While we, the promoters, worked with the authorities to consider other options to continue the concert, ultimately they made the decision based on the safety of the concertgoers," read the statement from promoter Gary Richards, which added, "We are happy to report that there were no major injuries."

Full details from Hard Events are after the jump.

--Todd Martens

Photo credit: Jesse Solorio / Flickr

Saturday's all-night electronic event Hard Summer at the Forum was shut down by midnight. The event was declared a "hazard" by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, according to an Inglewood police representative. Based on the county department's recommendation, Hard Summer was called off. [Note: An earlier version of this post said the LAFD had made the recommendation; the LAFD is the city fire department, not the county department.]

The Forum has a capacity of about 18,000 people. According to the Hard Summer website, the event was sold out. Attempts to reach the responding fire department were unsuccessful, and calls went straight to voice mail. 

Pop & Hiss is attempting to get more details and will post them as we have them. From a reporter on the scene, we're told that at least one act played -- the electronic noise act Crystal Castles. Yet those who made it into the Forum were then subject to two hours without any music. At some point, the crowd began chanting,  "We want music." 

According to some of those on scene, shortly before midnight, when acclaimed U.K. dance act Underworld was to be on stage, uniformed police officers in riot gear entered the Forum and emptied the room. Not everyone in the crowd left quietly. There were reports of bottle throwing and heavy booing, but our reporter said there wasn't anything extremely violent or worrisome.

Updated at 10 a.m.: The following statement has appeared on the official Hard website: "We are terribly sorry. Inglewood PD made the decision to shut down the event tonight much to our astonishment and yours. There are many questions to answer; rest assured you will not be left hanging. Please check back soon." Information regarding ticket refunds has not yet been released. 

Updated at 11 a.m.: Underworld has updated its website with a detailed, firsthand account of last night's events. The non-bylined post appears to be written by Underworld member Karl Hyde, who provides a behind-the-scenes perspective of last night's shutdown. The post observes that the mood inside the Forum went from a "good buzz" to an "uneasy" feeling relatively quickly. The act writes that things changed when fans began moving from the seated area onto the dance floor, jumping over a barricade. "At any moment the flow of people coming over the barrier could've turned into a cascade & people could've been badly hurt," the post reads. "I watched with increasing concern as it continued unstopped." The act writes that it was eventually advised by its team to leave the venue because of safety concerns.

Updated at 4 p.m.: Attendees on Saturday waited in line for an hour or more to get into the Forum, and a spokesman for the Inglewood police confirms online reports that fans made "multiple attempts" to rush the gates. A total of four people were arrested, according to the police, on charges of theft or drunk and disorderly conduct. Information regarding any injuries was not yet known.

Follow thoughts from attendees via Twitter. Where you there? Was it crowded? What was the mood? Leave your thoughts in the comment section.

Another Hard event is set for the Forum on Halloween. Video of last night's shut down is after the jump.

If this summer’s Electric Daisy Carnival was the epicenter of an electronica earthquake, then Saturday’s Hard Summer may be an aftershock. 

The HARD Summer rides the crest of the mega-rave’s resurgence, following the 17,000 to 60,000 dance fanatics (depending who you ask) who stormed the L.A. Coliseum in June. From Milan to Montreal, the HARD Summer serves up electro from across the globe. 

Featuring the glitchy 8-bit pop of Crystal Castles, Chromeo’s suave electro-funk, and the Euro house of Italian DJ duo Crookers, there will be no shortage of innovative acts on the cutting edge of dance music. But for old school ravers, the return of U.K. rave titans Underworld offers a throwback to the bass-thumping arena anthems from the turn of the millennium.

Saturday’s Hard Fest continues the growth of the HARD series, whose large-scale parties brought N.E.R.D., MSTRKRFT and Spankrock to the Shrine last summer, as well as Soulwax and Justice for 2008’s Haunted Mansion Halloween extravaganza. 

Away from the main stage, American dubstep provocateur 12th Planet and Philly’s nasty rapper Amanda Blank -- whose long-awaited debut album dropped in July -- should lay down some not-to-be-missed sets. And don’t forget to load up with Red Bull and a triple espresso chaser for the 3 a.m. set of fuzzed-out, hard beats by the Frenchman Sebastian (known in some circles, perhaps, as Justice Jr.).

For those who can’t wait until Saturday, or if the thought of navigating 15,000 sweaty ravers brings out your inner agoraphobic, French DJs Busy P and Sebastian spin at the Discoteque HARD pre-party tonight at Club 740 downtown.

Prepare to get your glow sticks on.

--Drew Tewksbury

Photo of Crystal Castles by Nick Haymes

In its second year, the Sunset Strip Music Festival is going bigger, just like a righteous hair-metal guitar solo.

The lineup for the festival, scheduled for Sept. 10-12, includes Chris Cornell, Pepper, Kottonmouth Kings, LMFAO, Shwayze, Shiny Toy Guns, Unwritten Law, the Donnas, Fishbone, Iglu & Hartly, Living Things, the Ringers, the Pricks, Nico Stai and Thenewno2.

But perhaps the most notable change to this year's festival is the closing of the Sunset Strip between Doheny Drive and San Vicente Boulevard on Saturday, a first for this particular stretch of legendary road. In place of the usual stream of joyriding cars will be two concert stages and food and drink vendors, a la Sunset Junction in Silver Lake.

The organizers of the festival, the Sunset Strip Business Association in conjunction with key Sunset Strip venues, are anticipating 10,000 people on Saturday. The Strip's participating venues include the Cat Club, House of Blues, Key Club, the Roxy Theatre, Viper Room and Whisky A Go-Go, which will all feature live performances during the day as well as Saturday night after the street closure portion ends at 9 p.m.

For the Donnas, the choice to play the festival was a no-brainer. Speaking from San Francisco during a tour stop with Blondie and Pat Benatar, lead singer Brett Anderson said that the Strip's lore and legend, affixed into L.A. history with plenty of Aqua Net, has always attracted the band.

"Its heyday was a long time ago but it was a good time. We still go to the Rainbow Room and the Roxy -- we love those places."

For the all-girl rock group, it's also a home of sorts -- whiskey stench, animal-print leggings and all. "We don't have a whole lot of places where we fit in, so it's going to be nice to be in a place where we belong. That’s what the Strip is all about to me -- not having to apologize for your sense of humor or anything about yourself."

--Margaret Wappler

Photo of the Donnas: Neil Zlozower

Although the contemporary conception of the summertime block party may have been birthed in the Big Apple, Los Angeles has recently made inroads with the continual evolution and expansion of Sunset Junction and the Echo Park, Topanga Canyon and Eagle Rock music festivals.* As of today, the scene gets even more teeming, with the debut of the Funk Rumble Block Party in Chinatown.

Organized by local promoters Flock Shop and Spectrumega, the annual party boasts a litany of the city's finest funk outfits and DJs, rocking four stages scattered across Broadway. Hosted by KCRW DJ Jeremy Sole, the event also features an art walk and a mini-indie film festival. With admission priced at a recession-ready $5 before 4 p.m. and $8 after, the city’s newest festival figures to be a worthy addition to an already crowded slate, and easily its funkiest.

Below the jump, a breakdown of the top acts getting down today, and ensuring that although the Bronx may have created it, Los Angeles will keep on shaking it.