Mad Decent Block Party brings the beats, and special guests A-Trak and Skrillex, to L.A. Center Studios

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There was a point at dusk on Saturday during TJR’s set at the Mad Decent Block Party, as beats blared through the booming sound system and the packed street of patrons danced in a trance, that five anatomically equipped male inflatable dolls bobbed above them all. They thrust-danced haphazardly, as did the two blue inflatable air dancers perched on the sky bridges behind.

It was the order of the day during the eight-hour block party at L.A. Center Studios downtown, which featured a stage near Boylston and Maryland streets and two beer gardens on opposite corners at 5th Street. It was hard not to feel the loud pulsating beats the whole time, as the street was transformed into an in-broad-daylight dance club that raged onward to close. The 18-and-over crowd, the majority of which seemed like they were born in the ’90s, grooved steady, some young couples even grinding a little too close.

Diplo’s bass-heavy headlining set included A$AP Mob’s “Hella Hoes,” Izzy Azalea’s “Fancy,” Kendrick Lamar’s “M.A.A.D. City,” Major Lazer cuts and Kanye West’s “Power,” before Skrillex joined him on stage to an ecstatic roar from the audience, and they turned the second half into a five-alarm, turnt-up Jack U dance party. This party had everything: new tracks, strobe lights, hands playing air bongos, wobbly dubstep that wobbled your core, House of Pain’s “Jump Around,” a girl twerking in a balaclava and another girl pulled on stage to twerk in a handstand.

Thurz, Elliphant, Liz, and Djemba Djemba jump-started the day with lively sets, and then Norwegian-born Cashmere Cat took it up a notch, dropping edits of Bell Biv Devoe, Blackstreet, Miguel, Spice Girls and Justin Timberlake and Ace Hood’s “Bugatti,” proving it’s a better song when you only hear two lines of it in a remix. By mid-afternoon, a decent breeze quelled the high-90s temperatures, aided by the shade of the L.A. Center’s looming façade. Diplo then came on stage to introduce A-Trak, who played a surprise set and drew a huge response from the audience.

The dance-rock four-piece STRFKR delivered a vibrant hour-long set, as a green man danced around the stage. By evening, TJR had the masses amped up, throwing in a dark synthy remix of “The Empire Strikes Back” theme, DJ Assault’s “Ass & Titties,” Drake’s “0 to 100,” M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” Missy’s “Work It” and R. Kelly’s “Ignition,” killing it with the liveliest set of the day. Laidback Luke followed next with a perfectly adequate high-energy electro set at twilight.

There were multiple water bottle refill stations and food trucks available, as well as portable toilets aplenty, so that lines for anything were never horrible. As any large event will show, a few trends permeated the crowd. There was a sizable quantity of “Random ____” tanks and tees in the midst, including “Random Armenian Girl,” “AZN Girl,” “Canadian Chick,” “Jamaican Chick,” “White Dude,” “Black Guy,” and “Promoter Dude” on a guy backstage. There was even a girl in the crowd holding a white sign that read “Random White Sign.” Old-school NBA jerseys were also out in impressive force, featuring 23 Jordan, 45 Jordan, Hardaway, O’Neil, Drexler, Iverson, L. Johnson, and Van Exel in all of their retro glory.

And, of course, those inflatable dolls.