Table 87 Drops Santa Ana’s Very First Psych Fest _ Santanero Zine

8/3/2016 Table 87 Drops Santa Ana’s Very First Psych Fest

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Table 87 Drops Santa Ana’s Very First Psych Fest

By Itzel Quintana Photos by Alberto Balthazar RomeroThis past weekend Table 87, a Santa Ana based DIY venue, premiered “Santa Ana Psych Fest.” For thoseof you who don’t know about Table 87, it’s this warehouse located at the edge of a business center, rightalongside some train tracks on Grand Ave. This is the place you come to when you want to see some ofOrange County’s unestablished artists and musicians get together at the venue to either jam or display andsell their art.

The place is pretty discreet and randomly tucked away in between a chiropractors office and a salon defiestas that’s always poppin’ no matter what day it is. Despite the venue being slightly off the grid, Table 87always manages to throw some of the best underground shows in Santa Ana and its initial Santa Ana PsychFest was no exception.



The threeday festival featured bands from all spectrums and varying sounds. Unfortunately, because of theThanksgiving festivities and family visiting from out of state, I only made it out for Day 1, titled “Just Dropped”on their flyer that dawned a triplecapped mushroom, and Day 3, “The Come Down.” I skipped Day 2, “ThePeak” entirely, which would suck under most circumstances, but I think I really got what I paid for on bothdays that I attended.

On day one I made it with enough time to catch Stumped followed by Seaweed Party. Both bands had abeachy, surf rock vibe but were aggressive enough to get a pit going. While the bands played and thecrowd was getting into it, live projections that resembled egg yolk were displayed on the looming wallsbehind them for all to see and know that they were, without a doubt, at Psych Fest.

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I didn’t dare go inside the pits because there was this huge, buffed up guy circling around. He was biggerthan everyone dancing and although he was moshing in good spirit, if your mom saw this guy she wouldprobably say he was an abusón targeting anyone smaller than him.

Behind the audience, artists and vendors were lined up against the wall. Some were selling tarot cardstickers and miscellaneous items and others were selling art and poetry zines.

After Stumped finished their set I went outside to hang out with them for a bit as they packed up theirequipment. They sparked a fat joint and passed it around while members of other bands would come up andcongratulate them on their performance.

As Seaweed Party started their set an Amtrak train zoomed past the warehouse and the highspeed windcombined with the click clack of the train tracks intertwined with the crashing of the cymbals and thescreaming vocals. The train passing by has kind of become a visceral signature of Table 87 shows, as anyregular would tell you.

Two of my favorite sets from day three were Crooks Thrill and The Grottos.

Crooks Thrill didn’t sound like a band that I expected to play at Santa Ana Psych Fest and that’s why I wascompletely blown away by them. They were super post punk alternative and reminded me of everything I



grew up listening to in high school. As soon as I heard the first riff of a Strokes song about to be covered Idecided that I needed to look these guys up when I got home. They were my favorite band at Psych Fest,hands down.

The Grottos, on the other hand, were exactly the kind of band I expected to see at Psych Fest. Thedrummer went so hard I was afraid for his drums a few times and the guitarist/lead singer danced aroundwith Willy Wonkaesque moves. Towards the end of their set the drummer chucked his drumsticks andclimbed on top of the guitarists shoulders while he was still playing. Simply put: they were fucking weird butthey knew how to get a crowd’s attention.



The next Table 87 event is Friday, December 4th. The show will double as a clothing drive to help those inneed. Tickets are at $2 with donations, $5 without and the music starts at 6:30 p.m.

TABLE 87: 650 SOUTH GRAND AVE. UNIT #12 SANTA ANA, CA

TABLE [email protected]


Table 87 Drops Santa Ana’s Very First Psych Fest _ Santanero Zine

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