hard new year's? hardly

It's official: The folks behind the L.A. area's Hard festivals are bowing out of the New Year's Eve party scene this year to focus, they say, on next year's trio of parties that will resume its franchises in summer, on Halloween ("Hard Haunted Mansion") and on New Year's Eve. And, as we told you, a special Hard event, Turkey Soup, happens Nov. 26 at the Roxy in West Hollywood, Calif.

Hard has been successful at tapping the nu electro movement by booking the likes of Justice, Simian Mobile Disco and MSTRKRFT for its shows. The most recent Hard event, on Halloween night, sold out at 10,000 people.
[Above: Jet-set survivor DJ AM in Daft Punk guise at the Hard Haunted Mansion Oct. 31, 2008].