Way Too Fun Fest Lived Up to Its Name in Downtown SanTana

Way Too Fun Fest
Downtown Santa Ana
11/5/2016

In case you missed it, SanTana was jam-packed with festivals over the weekend – Way Too Fun Fest (WTFFEST) being one of them. It attracted not only the city’s inhabitants who may not have had any idea what the hell was going on, but a massive amount of degenerates, Chicanx, and people of all ages who were too damn hip as well.

Top Acid is known for keeping the SanTana music scene thriving through its profound appreciation for local artists, underground bands, and DIY attitude. As you could imagine, this appeals to fans of all ages and provides a sense of community for OC’s freaks and geeks.

The free second-annual event consisted of over 100 vendors, 50 bands, and five stages scattered throughout East End DTSA on Nov. 5. Both the Konsept Art & Music Festival and the 14th annual Noche de Altares took place on the same night, drawing in enough people for parking to take an hour – some covered in sugar skull makeup or V for Vendetta masks.

WTFFEST gave artists a chance to showcase their best work and bring in more of an audience compared to shows that might not get as much exposure. One of the vendors, Paul Luna, had shirts that read “life can be stressful, I love you” and nature prints available for purchase. Luna’s creativity has allowed him to express himself in a way that benefits his emotional health all while doing what he loves most.

“Sometimes people forget that there's a person behind the art so events like this help rid of that disconnect…Most of the bands, vendors, and audience are within a ten year age gap so it feels like we've all grown together creating one big family ready to help one another. People are more comfortable expressing themselves in a welcoming environment like this, encouraging self-expression artistically and personally,” Luna says.

Underground, trendy events put on by Top Acid are all about self-expression. Of course there were a few things we were expecting: leather jackets, long hair, pins, the sound of skateboard wheels hitting the pavement, Kim House’s raw vocals, and a shit ton of public boozing. But there were just some things people weren’t expecting that naturally gathered a lot of attention, from lead singers stripping everything but their socks to kittens on leashes. Within a matter of just a few hours, numerous fights broke out and everyone flocked to them as if they were about to watch a potential Worldstar moment. There were joints being passed anywhere and everywhere…not unusual for this kind of event, but smoking out of an apple? We haven't tried that one since since high school. Moments after, a boy who appeared no older than 18 years old walked by with a bong Sharpie-d onto his shaved head. Talk about a WTF fest.

The eccentricity of events kept the event entertaining, but at the end of the day, hundreds of people were there for the music, art, and atmosphere it provided. There was plenty of diversity considering there were psychedelic, hip-hop, garage rock, punk and electronic groups playing.

Live acts from Sloppy Jane, Jurassic Shark (video of their song “Pacing Tigers” below), Pity Party, The Side Eyes and Kim and the Created drew in incredibly large crowds and made everyone lose their cool in the pit…or their shoes.

Astrid McDonald, front-woman for punk band The Side Eyes, was astounded to see so many faces at the festival uniting from all of Southern California – whether they hail from LA, IE, or OC.

“WTFFEST this year was absolutely incredible,” McDonald told the Weekly. “The craziest thing we saw was how every single stage had a great turnout. You could walk to the main stage and it would be packed, then turn into an alley way and see that with just as many people. Everybody at every stage was going nuts to every single band and that was so nice to see.”