Friday, May 3
Basscon
The Yost Theater
Friday night's alright for partying down, so make your way over to Santa Ana's historic Yost Theater for Basscon tonight. The Yost has been putting out great EDM and trance music nights for a while now, but Basscon looks like its going to be an intense night of hard dance music. Six DJs from around the world will be serving up the untz untz untz on the dancefloor, so get there early for what should be a great way to start the Cinco de Mayo weekend. Bring your friends! (Aimee Murillo)
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Schoolboy Q
The Observatory
Though frequently compared with labelmate Kendrick Lamar, Los Angeles' Schoolboy Q is beginning to make some big noise of his own. His major label debut, Oxymoron, is grittier and more rough around the edges than those of his counterparts in the Black Hippy collective (Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock). Pulling from his gang-affiliated past, Q crafts songs about drug-slinging and street violence, but it's his unpredictable charisma that sets him apart from traditional West Coast gangsta rap. His flow cuts sharply between smooth styling to unhinged mania at any given moment. He can zoom in to deal with the intensely personal or zoom out to reveal the bigger picture. This weekend marks his first headlining show in OC. (Jack Spencer)
Saturday, May 4
The GBAMC Three Year Anniversary
Detroit Bar
This one forced us to do quite the double take. Is this some sort of hipster band with an ironic name? The answer is: sort of. Tonight, Detroit Bar hosts the third anniversary of the Gentleman's Beard and Mustache Coalition, a group that describes itself as a “collective of facial hair enthusiasts.” The evening includes performances from the Black Tibetans, Los Mysteriosos and active members of the GBMC playing punk covers. Grease up your nose neighbor, head out to Detroit Bar and celebrate the almighty 'stache. While you're there, remember the words of the immortal bard: “He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man.” (Brandon Ferguson)
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Sunday, May 5
Manic Hispanic
The Observatory
Subversive punk band Manic Hispanic is playing in town again, and you can check them out at The Observatory. This Chicano super-group combines a penchant for parody with hardcore punk with such album names as “Mijo Goes to Jr. College,” and “The Recline of Mexican Civilization,” among others, and helped filled the void for punk rock in the mid '90s. Appropriately playing on Cinco De Mayo, come see what mayhem these OC punk rockers unleash. But before you do that, make sure to read our cover story on these pinche punks! (Aimee Murillo)
Psycho De Mayo
The Yost Theater
Your Cinco De Mayo experience in downtown Santa Ana might be a little more tripped out that normal if you pass by the Yost Theater this year. In the midst of Santa Ana's massive city-sponsored street fair drawing upward of 20,000 people, the inaugural head-banging bacchanal–dubbed Psycho de Mayo–boasts four stages, with bands flying in from all over the world. Side venues for the fest include Proof Bar, the newly remodeled Copper Door and record shop Left of the Dial. Headlined by Canadian drone-pop act Black Mountain, the anticipated, brain-rattling lineup features New York City's A Place to Bury Strangers; LA stalwarts Dead Meadow; and Dead Skeletons, a legendary Icelandic group making their first pilgrimage to OC. Read more about the fest in this week's music feature. (Nate Jackson)
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