The lifestyle of old-school Chicano culture will always be the heartbeat of SanTana. The roots that put the city on the map originate from the spirit and style of the city’s OGs repping the culture that raised them. So it’s only right that a monthly celebration of the best back-in-the-day jams be held in an underground club. Walking down the black stair case of Bar Ellipsis (formerly the DTSA Underground), the golden harmonies of the Stylistics and the synthesizer slap of Zapp and Roger invite you downstairs to reveal a packed room of two-stepping homeboys, Zoot suit romeos and Chicanas dressed in outfits ranging from Pendletons and slacks to miniskirts and high heels. The vibe is right for a chill night of music and dancing to wind down the weekend, which is exactly what Firme Sundays has always been about.
“Sunday has always been a good day, a family day, a barbecue going out to the park kind of day,” says organizer George Sanchez of Curious Entertainment. “I wanted that for the oldies entertainment scene thats why its an all ages event. We’ve seen families with three generations come out to enjoy and pass the time listening and dancing to oldies.”
The next installment of Firme Sunday happens March 19th. This month, the club will host a meet greet with two classic ’90s Chicana film stars—Mousie (Seidy López) and Sad Girl (Angel Aviles) cast members from the 1993 movie Mi Vida Loca as well as a few other special guests, Sanchez says. Originally the event started off by taking place every other week but the Curious Entertainment team decided to make it a once month thing.
Last month the event celebrated its one year anniversary with special guests Cruzito, Popeye and Spider from the cast of the 1993 movie Blood In Blood Out as well as a performance from Rosie Cortez. This month’s event will take place once again at Bar Ellipsis from 4-10 p.m. Though it got its start in OC, Sanchez says Firme will soon have a home in surrounding cities that are starving for a dope scene with quality DJs bumping oldies. “We are working on venturing out of Orange County, talking to some folks down in Phoenix Arizona to get some big events in the works,” Sanchez says. The event apparently already has a following in cities like San Diego, Las Vegas and San Jose, according to Sanchez.
Formed in 1993, Sanchez started throwing Curious events explains how he started funky, backyard boogies, charging $1 for entrance and $2 per cup to get beer from the keg. “Thats how I started getting myself some money and been running on that ever since,” Sanchez says. “Even now to this day its not about the profit as much as it is for a good time and a good memory, we’ll never charge more than 10 dollars at a Firme Sunday Event”.
The event won’t just host 90’s film actors they will be having a funky lineup of DJ’s, including DJOmargod, Cancunjoey, Mr.Fana, BigFrankPeña along with their host MCPancho from the Harbor Area. “Firme Sunday’s has been bringing a lot of cities, counties, homeboys and homegirls together and keeping them united and hyped over a mutual love for oldies,” Sanchez says. “We take pride in the fact that there has never been a fight at this event and we have people coming from up and down the coast like San Diego, Riverside, La Habra, Los Angeles, Santa Fe and Orange County all together peacefully boogieing, nothing but a Sunday Fun-Day the minute you walk in the party has begun.”
Below are a few songs that you can listen to- to get into the Firme Sunday mood. enjoy!
See you there! Don’t be a leva!
