The Mad Decent Block Parties, aka the multi-stop, multi-genre, all-out ridiculous events that Mad Decent throws at the tail end of every summer. It’s basically as close as you can get to a touring festival without labeling it a festival. It hasn’t always been that way, though.
Travel back in time with me real quick. It’s the summer of 2010, the year after Major Lazer’s Gun’s Don’t Kill People, Lazers Do released, Rusko is about to release his Mad Decent full length debut, and dubstep isn’t a dirty word yet, in fact, it’s just starting to really take off in the US. The block party is literally a block party; it’s in the middle of the street, no official vendors, just a grill and people bringing their own booze. People filter in and out throughout the day, postmen stop their routes to drink and listen to music, people that live on the street hang out the windows with water guns, and Diplo closes the day with his usual raucous set.
Jump forward a year, the block party is no longer in the street, it’s at the Piazza in Philadelphia, which is now just one of many block parties happening throughout the country. Diplo has produced what turned out to be the club banger of the year, his status has skyrocketed even higher, and the turnout for the party was at least double of the previous year. The day hit it’s high point as Diplo came in to close things out once again, to a rowdy as hell, but over packed crowd. At this point it was clear the perhaps the party has outgrown the humble venues.
Now, here we are in 2012 and it’s gotten to the point where the block party doesn’t carry any semblance to a block party other than the name. It all went down at Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia, a nicely set up pavilion that ended up perfect for the complete and utter shenanigans that would go down throughout the day. You’ll struggle to find a line-up as eclectic as the Mad Decent roster, jumping between acts that have no logical connection, until you realize they all have the same goal in mind, have a shit-ton of fun.
Click page 2 below to continue reading and view photos from the party.
