1. I’ve been at the Bunkhouse four out of the past seven nights, and most have drawn a significant turnout. Vegas has pulled through again tonight, with the Downtown venue filled wall-to-wall for Tijuana Panthers.
2.The surfy Long Beach, California, three-piece opens with chunky, riff-heavy cut “Foolish” from August LP Poster, then dives into “Creature” with drummer Phil Shaheen singing lead vocals. The driving force behind the Panthers, Shaheen keeps my attention for most of the night as he flails and bangs his drum set with piercing precision, all while switching off singing duties with bassist Daniel Michicoff.
3. During “Wall Walker,” Michicoff’s mic stand collapses, forcing him to sing into two different mics until an audience member finally fixes the stand. “Thank you—no dignity lost, I hope,” he says. Later, he returns to the stand for another show of gratitude. “Cheers for coming out on a Monday night. You’re all a buncha punks.”
4. A young, leather-clad couple saunters onstage in the middle of “Send Down the Bombs,” and by the encore they’re back up there … along with security. After the show Shaheen tells me that kind of thing happens all the time.
5. During “Monitor” the crowd starts throwing beer into the air and things remain rowdy until the end. “We’re gonna skip the charade of the encore,” Michicoff says before jumping into “Reaction,” “Crew Cut” and “This Town.” After a whopping 19 songs, eager fans bombard the group, swiping setlists from the stage—the mark of yet another successful show for Tijuana Panthers and the relaunched Bunkhouse.
Setlist:
“Foolish”
“Creature”
“Bainbridge”
“Torpedo”
“Set Forth”
“Wall Walker”
“Gated Patio”
“Cherry St.”
“Send Down the Bombs”
“Boardwalk”
“Redheaded Girl”
“Nobo”
“Front Window Down”
“Monitor”
“Don’t Shoot”
“Right and Wrong”
“Reaction”
“Crew Cut”
“This Town”
