As I was stuck in traffic, I could tell that it was definitely not a normal Saturday in Santa Ana. At 4:00, the sidewalks were swarming with people covered head to toe in jester makeup, alt fashion, silver chains, and ripped band tees.
Attracting a crowd of about 12,000, the Observatory OC’s “1 Strange Night in Orange County” was a 5 band mini-festival featuring 45 Grave, Alice Glass, The Adicts, The Garden, and JPEGMafia. Upon entering, the attendees could be seen teeming with excitement, at least partially attributed to JPEGMafia’s highly anticipated return to OC: having graced the Observatory stage back in 2018, not only has he grown a sizable fanbase, but also drastically expanded upon his experimental sound, becoming notorious for his unusual incorporation of samples and sometimes ridiculous lyrics. And now, with the release of his ninth album, Scaring The Hoes, in collaboration with Danny Brown, JPEG’s new sound is put on display, a sound notably different from that which defined his performance at this same venue 5 years ago.
Opening the afternoon was 45 Grave, a Los-Angeles rock band formed in 1979. With flaming purple hair, lead singer Dinah Cancer enchanted the crowd with her gothic rock sound. The song “Slice O’ Life” featured a hypnotizing guitar solo with heavy distortion, sending the crowd into the first mosh pit of the afternoon.
Up next was Alice Glass. An electronic artist formerly the frontwoman of group Crystal Castles, Glass pioneered a distinct experimental sound on her 2022 release, PREY//IV, with hits such as “BABY TEETH.” Wrapping herself in her microphone cord, Glass leaped across the stage, captivating the audience with her distorted vocals layered over a glitching electronic rhythm. The crowd remained in a constant bounce, mirroring the beat of her music.
The Adicts followed, with frontman Keith “Monkey” Warren storming the stage covered in joker makeup, enveloped in a silver cape. Upping the energy, The Adicts’ traditional punk performance nature was reflected by an aggressive audience with multiple instances of crowd surfing, jumping over barriers, and launching opened beer cans. It seemed as though Warren had a new trick up his sleeve for every song. Within the one hour set, Warren threw playing cards into the crowd, dumped confetti out of a bag, spun an umbrella around, played with green toy figurines, flung streamers into the audience, and for his final surprise, poured some beers into his beer shaped hat, and then hurled it into the crowd, all while singing the song “Who Spilt My Beer.” An enormous amount of confetti accompanied by smoke geysers ended the set, suffocating the audience in a scene comparable to “The Roses of Heliogabalus.”
As the sun set, the crowd grew restless in anticipation of JPEGMafia’s arrival. After a painstaking wait where the remaining confetti was removed with the help of multiple leaf blowers, JPEG approached the stage solo. Opening the set with “Lean Beef Patty,” the lead single off his new album, JPEG’s intensity was instantly contagious. Within seconds, the crowd of 12,000 was raging, chanting the lyrics in sync.
“You know what I see in this audience?” he questioned. Amongst shrieks from the crowd, he replied “I see a lot of Beautiful hair,” signaling the introduction to “BALD!” JPEG opted to conclude the last half of this song with an instrumental break, which highlighted his sophisticated use of samples- a characteristic prominent throughout his roster of tracks. From obscure sound effects to deep-cuts from wider known artists, JPEG’s innovative incorporation of samples easily sets him apart from others in his field.
Transitioning into the title track off his 2023 release, “SCARING THE HOES,” JPEG showcased his high-energy stage presence by jumping onto speakers, addressing the audience in between lines, and racing across the stage. The crowd was insatiable, with members shoving each other whilst iPhone cameras documented every second of his performance.
An unlikely rendition, JPEGMafia then chose to cover Carly Rae Jepsen’s 2012 hit “Call Me Maybe.” He ditched the upbeat backing track, and instead drenched his lyrics in autotune, adding just enough distortion so the crowd could discern his words; given the song’s popularity circa 2012, this veritable sing-a-long had everyone in the audience screaming at the top of their lungs.
I couldn’t help but notice the minimal stage setup. Between each song, JPEG rushed to the back of the stage, and played the backing track off of his laptop, which occasionally resulted in some ill-timed breaks within his set. We experienced some technical difficulties before “1539 N. Calvert,” causing some confusion in the audience. When speaking about his own experience in the crowd at this festival, UCLA Radio’s Heber Recinos highlighted that JPEG’s “unconventional standing within the genre does not end with the music,” instead, JPEG’s live performance featured “No DJ, no hype men, no surprise guests – just one man and his laptop.”
Screaming “Crank the Music!” JPEG signaled the intro of “Garbage Pale Kids,” a collaboration with Danny Brown. Including samples from a 1985 commercial for Nichiro, a Japanese meat packing company, and a 1983 Nintendo commercial, JPEG’s interesting combination of tones had the crowd roaring.
He followed with “VENGEANCE | VENGEANCE,” a dark collaboration with Denzel Curry and ZillaKami. Fans went absolutely wild as he screamed the words aggressively to the first half of the song, and then matched his energy for the second half, swaying their hands in the air as he melodically concluded the outro.
JPEG disappeared into the dark haze while the witch-house instrumentals of “Rainbow Six” began to play, the sound of the drums echoing across the crowd of 12,000. Moments later his producer tag echoed “You think you know me,” and JPEG erupted through the thick artificial haze permeating the stage. As the crowd transformed into an endless frenzy of jumping bodies, JPEG enchanted the audience with this fan favorite from Veteran.
He ended the set with “Fentanyl Tester,” the fifth track off of Scaring The Hoes. As a sample from Kelis’ “Milkshake” looped repeatedly, JPEG addressed the crowd from center stage, passionately rapping the lyrics “I wanna rock right now.” Exiting the stage as the backtrack echoed behind him, JPEG turned his back on his sea of fans, exiting as quietly as he had arrived.
To close the night was The Garden, an experimental Punk band from Orange County, California. Playing to their home crowd, they showcased their eccentric stage presence in hits such as “Banana Peel,” a performance in which bassist/vocalist Wyatt Shears instructed the crowd to launch banana peels and other miscellaneous objects onto the stage. The Garden’s bizarre yet engaging set was a flawless conclusion to a night which featured this diverse group of performers, all of which completed a homogenous showcase of alternative music where the ferocious energy remained high for 5 straight hours.
Listen to JPEGMafia’s recent release, SCARING THE HOES, here:
