Last Saturday I roamed the streets of the Santa Ana Arts District in search of something new and fresh. The Santa Ana Downtown Business Council presented the first “Sound Downtown Festival” at various venues throughout the Artist’s Village of this cultural epicenter.

I took to a four block walk down 4th street and stopped at an old Mexican movie house called The Yost. I was excited as I would finally get to see a duo I’ve been a big fan of for about a year, Free The Robots. Imagine Jazz smashed by 70’s psychedelic themes then sprinkled with 90s style hiphop breaks and phat basslines.

Next I skipped across the street to Festival Hall. As soon as I walked in I noticed the high rise walls and Spanish architectures. The Growlers stepped up dressed in Hawaiian shirts, short shorts and painted black skin. The place was packed for the 5 piece psychedelic surf rock band and the people were loving it.

One quick bite and 3 beers later I ended up at The Bistro 400 for what I considered the secret ninja band of the night, The Boogaloo Assassins, an 11 piece Latin-Funk Salsa-Soul explosion! The vibes were amazingly thick and people were shaking their hips and dancing the night away.

While in the dancing mood, myself and the others I was with made our way to The Proof Bar where I knew we could catch the freshest sounds in Electro. Trust Saturday’s was hosting special guests Jokers Of The Scene from Canada. By the time we got there, it was wall to wall people. The duo from Ottawa broke out some exclusive bassline business to keep the crowd screaming for more till the lights turned on at 2am.

It was a great day and night in Santa Ana.

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View the full gallery on Kelly Dean’s Flickr.

Website: Kelly Dean on Myspace

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