Photo By Nadya Diaz
On June 9, I drove out to Downtown Santa Ana for the End Block Party fest on 4th Street. Every year, multiple stages of different genres ranging from hip hop, jazz, rock, punk, and psychedelic are held on the block of 4th street along with artists and vendors and their pop up shops. The OCML stage was inside The Frida Cinema while The East End stage was outside in the middle of 4th Street featuring hip hop acts. This would be my third time going to East End Block Party, and aside from all the acts I wanted to see and take pictures of, I wanted to go because this would also be the last Top Acid Fest.
Top Acid had their stages outside on the corner of 4th and French and in the alleyway between the parking structure and the Frida Cinema. As soon as I walked out of the parking structure, there was a swarm of punk teenagers cruising the festival. Although I didn’t get to see every one of the dozens of bands that played the Top Acid stages, I arrived just in time to see Orange County local garage rock/punk band RØBBER. The trio played on the main stage while wearing ski masks in front of a crowd of young punks who didn’t hesitate to mosh and start a circle pit. In the middle of the pit I saw a drunken older gentleman, who stuck out the most, dancing right in the middle of the pit and having the time of his life. On main stage 2, there were many other bands like Hip Priest, Wild Wing, and Clit Kat.
(1,2,5, RØBBER, Top Acid Main Stage) (6,7, Tunnels) Photos By Nadya Diaz
After RØBBER’s set, I made my way through 4th street to checkout all the vendors and art. Starting from French St., there were artists and vendors selling pins, art prints, clothing, and music. Across from the East End Stage were a couple of artists doing live art on large wooden boards propped up.
Orange County locals, Tunnels, played the Top Acid alley stage behind the Frida Cinema. Although most of the bands at the alley stage were hardcore and punk, that didn’t stop Tunnels from shredding and playing their psychedelic/garage rock set. Some of the other bands who played the alley stage included The Grinning Ghosts, Capital Wasteland, Ariel View, and Chemical X.
The Hurricanes took on the Top Acid main stage and played some 60’s inspired garage rock to an enthusiastic dancing crowd. They had a dancer for their set who surprised everyone by throwing bags of hot cheetos to the crowd. Towards the end of their set, The Hurricanes tossed an inflated alligator and poop emoji pool toy for the crowd to bounced around. Westminster stoner metal band, KEVLAR, played the Top Acid main stage as well, and although the lead singer was in a wheelchair and had a splinter on his left leg, that didn’t stop him or the band from laying down a heavy fuzz driven set.
(1-4 The Hurricanes, Top Acid Main Stage) (7, KEVLAR Top Acid Alley Stage) Photos By Nadya Diaz
A few times during the day I took a break and walked up to the top level of the parking structure to get a birds eye view of the festival. Right below me, I could see people running and thrashing around the pit in front of the alley stage and lead singers of the punk bands screaming their lungs out. To my left, I could see some of the vendors displaying their art and people crowd surfing to the music the bands were playing on the two main stages.
I mostly hung around the Top Acid stages but I decided to take some time to visit the East End stage to listen to some hip-hop artists. Santa Ana rapper, Jay Taj, caught my attention the most as he rapped about his past struggles, police brutality, and living in the West side of the Santa Ana. On one of his tracks, he let a clip of multiple news audio clips about gun violence play out and also mentioned trying to bring the community closer and running for mayor. What I liked about his set, aside from the realness of the subject matter, was his freestyle.
(1, Jay Taj, East End Stage) Photos By Nadya Diaz
I didn’t want to miss local Santa Ana jazz/hip hop group, Apollo Bebop, so at 8pm I walked over to The Cool Lab Project Stage located at the 4th Street Market patio to catch their set. However, when I got there, police helicopters immediately starting circling over the festival and commanded show-goers to leave the area and head over to the civic center. I had no idea what was going on until I asked around and overheard that there was a bomb threat at the corner of the street. Apparently there was a fight and someone had left a grenade on the corner, and police officers were instructing everyone to stop the music and leave. Vendors had to take down their pop up shops, many confused people began going back to their cars, and bands like The Side Eyes weren’t able to play their set. As I walked around the building back to my car, many young punks watched the situation from the upper levels of the parking structure. Many others completely disregarded the bomb threat and the officers’ orders, and kept rocking at Top Acid’s alley stage while punk band Ariel View played. From the level I parked at, I could see police cars blocking the street. Luckily, the grenade turned out to not be detonated.
Despite the heat and the grenade scare, East End Block Party was an enormous fun filled crowd surfing, mosh pits, dancing, art, and a diverse lineup of music and art.I’m glad to have gone for the third time and I look forward to next year’s block party.
(Top Acid Alley Stage) Photos By Nadya Diaz
RØBBER’s Music
Tunnels’ Music
The Hurricanes’ Instagram
KEVLAR’s Music
Noa James Music
Jay Taj’s Instagram
Ariel Views’ Music
See More Photography By Nadya Diaz
Top Acid Views
By Andy Garcia
(Top Acid Side Stage) Photos By Andy Garcia
Being such a large event for the city of Santa Ana, I could not leave solely up to Nadya to cover the event on her own and made my way into the busy closed off streets around 3. I made sure to take a gander at all the vending booths had to offer from clothing, glassware, original art pieces, and a plethora of enamel pin vendors. One of my friends out of the Long Beach area Tristin was busy pressing and vending his crossover variants of pins when I made my way to the top acid stage.
(Top Acid Stage) Photos By Andy Garcia
The first act I was ready and able to catch was Clit Kat, a female fronted blend of hardcore metal as I was told by one of the band members, Luis, as they were setting up. The tiny staged covered in members soon drove into their first track where I began to see Meg Kat, the supreme scream queen herself, start to draw in the crowd that was in fear of the ensuing pit. The older fellow who had been in the audience during the hurricanes set made his way over to enjoy some Clit Kat as well but this time the energy was enough to have him get knocked over, yet the culture had him on his feet and out of danger in a moments notice. A crowd surfing moment took place after a call for people to catch Meg or else she would “…freak the fuck out” and saw her crawling back to the stage now adorned with a stray sock that had her motioning why? The bands sound had a bit of drone doom metal ever now an again but their true strength is that of the fusion between the backing backs speed and tenacity accompanied by Megs playful unfiltered shrieks sure to have to crowd looking for some water afterward.
(1-2, Noa James, East End Stage) Photos By Andy Garcia
A familiar face to the inland empire scene, Noa James made an appearance at the hip-hop stage with its blend of rap talent. Noa the #OrcaLife man himself is known to rap about positivity and love for all, with bars like “I love myself now my souls richer” soon to be chanted by those in the crowd. You cannot but help to get closer to the stage and be blessed by his talents. He even thanks his fans for “being part of his cardio…” as he began to glisten in the Santa Ana heat due to his personal trainer’s encouragement for him to just keep moving so dance has become part of his day to day activity. Continuing with tracks about the beauty of love, a small girl makes her way to the stage baracade and listened close showing how his music simply resonates at a frequency those in attendance can appreciate and vibe with.
(1-3, Ariel View, Alley stage) Photos By Andy Garcia
After stopping for some dollar tacos, value, I made my way to catch Ariel View whose members were seen walking about enjoying the show themselves. As soon as they had begun I saw a helicopter overhead making some announcements. I was more interested in the bands indie surf rock tunes and impeccable skills with their instruments. Yet, seemingly right after the band’s first song, a friend of theirs made their way to the stage as a large group of teens began to stream in from the other end of the alley, they were exiting to the parking structure at the side of the stage. The friend then made the announcement that there was a bomb threat and the cops had begun to ask everyone to vacate the area. Hermione, the band’s lead singer, and guitarist asked everyone to remain calm and after a small meeting with her band and the crowd encouraging them to keep playing they did just that. After having the fans wave at the helicopter and giving out some free merch the girls kept it coming with their lovely melodies. They had even played their cover of The Strokes tune Reptilia sure to make any passerby think again about leaving so soon.
Still, I had to check in with my friends to make sure they were ok, so after making my way out of the alley and back to the top acid stage I bared witness to the police presence and the frustrated vendors who were being asked to leave without taking their goods. Those who would approach the cops trying to make a photo op out of the situation were met with unamused faces and once again asked to leave. It was a shame that the event had to close the way it did, this being my third iteration of Top Acid I saw a larger and more diverse crowd than in previous attendance. The city still showed its resilience and took to the demands with dignity ending a great event and leaving us all wondering who would do such a thing. One can hope Top Acids legacy can continue to grow so whatever comes of the events future is left to be seen but I can say I thank the City of Santa Ana for hosting such a quality event and know they will continue to stir the melting pot that is Downtown for generations to come.
