PC: OC Weekly

The Growlers | Tijuana Panthers

Psychedelic rock lovers and hipsters in Halloween costumes alike packed into Santa Ana’s Observatory last week for a stacked line up, featuring Tijuana Panther’s and OC five piece, The Growlers. I can’t say I’ve ever seen the Observatory this jam packed before. There was hardly any wiggle room coming in the door which translated to a festering cesspool of indie rock fan nastiness as soon as we got into the Constellation room to see Tijuana Panthers. Everyone in that little room was family for that set and I don’t mean that in a we-love-the-same-music-let’s-boogie family kinda way, I mean that in a biological sense. Your sweat was my sweat. Needless to say it was worth the suffocation and the stank because Tijuana Panthers were on fire. They’ve got that kinda energy that makes you wanna shove the guy next to you but in a good way. It’s always great to see a band with even talent across the board. All three dudes took turns with the lead vocals, including the drummer, which I always think is awesome. Drummers are cool. Shout out to the guy in the banana costume.

The Growlers played hard to get before coming on stage a little after 11. They got into the spirit of the season with freaky face paint and silly hats and a creepy rotating monkey on their set. They played a good blend of their old songs and their new songs. They’re one of those bands that sounds almost exactly the same live as they do on record. Everyone was really into it, as is expected at one of their shows. People were climbing on things/each other and jumping off of things/each other the entire time and singing along with all of their classics. I’ve heard a lot about their live shows for years so it was great (understatement) to finally experience it. The only downer of the night was the overflux of hipsters in costume (lots of dudes dressed like chicks with nicer legs than me) who didn’t seem all that into the music but were more there to do drugs in a tee-pee before their parents picked them up at curfew. But that’s beside the point; it was some great music by some great bands. I’ll be seeing them again.

The Growlers – A Man With No God
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/YOLO79/02%20A%20Man%20With%20No%20God.mp3]
The Growlers – Old Cold River (Surf Rock)
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/Music/YOLO91/05%20Old%20Cold%20River.mp3]
Tijuana Panthers – Redheaded Girl
[audio:https://controlaltdelight.com/album%20reviews/Redheaded%20Girl.mp3]