Music fans of all sorts turned out at the Observatory in Santa Ana on Sunday night for Brazilian rockers CSS, local act Tapioca and the Flea and White Arrows. There were fans who danced, those who drank and those who just stood there while their favorite band serenaded them from the stage.

It turned out to be a night of undeniably great music, but this crowd was a tough one to win over.

Click here for a photo slideshow of CSS’ performance at the Observatory in Santa Ana.

CSS got the audience’s hearts pumping as a thick fog cloud covered the stage and lead vocalist Lovefoxxx pranced over to the edge of the stage, leaned into the crowd and the band ripped into its first track. The energetic jumping and dancing of the group never seemed to end and it was contagious as the concertgoers sang and danced right along with the magnetic vocalist without seemingly one moment of downtime.

CSS performed a variety of hits including tracks of its latest album, La Liberacion. Fans were certainly more excited with the outcome of the evenings events however, as it seemed everyone left with a smile – a complete turn around from the initial “too cool” attitude that kicked off the night.

Experimental indie rock act Tapioca and the Flea kicked off the night with its danceable rhythms, yet despite the crowd’s seemingly smug attitude towards opening acts on this evening, it did manage to get most of the room dancing and nodding its heads along by its third track. The band’s cohesiveness and stage presence was solid. Singer Samuel Jacob-Lopez charmed fans with his vocals and aside from singing, he also played guitar on several tracks throughout the set, while bassist Frank Alva also multi-tasked on the keys and tambourine. Its short-but-sweet set list consisted of several tracks from the group’s upcoming yet-to-be-titled album including “Splashed,” “Waste of Time” and “Home.”

White Arrows followed TATF’s performance and had to work hard to keep this crowd grooving. The audience seemed mostly into it, but grew oddly quiet after White Arrows had finished its set. There was a strange mood throughout the evening for sure, but by the end, the music had certainly won the crowd over.

Article by Cassie Rossel, for OrangeCounty.com. Photos by Jenavieve Belair, for OrangeCounty.com.

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