![\"TJP](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/TJP_06.jpg\")
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Photos by Max Gardener<\/a>. Full gallery below.<\/em><\/p>\n Justin Hectus, half of the genius (the other half being Rand Foster) behind the Summer and Music concert series, is a sneaky one\u2014and we mean that in the most positive way possible.<\/p>\n Hectus\u2014joining up with current “it” label, LA\u2019s Innovative Leisure, as well as Kato Space and Dan Perkins of Couch Guitar Straps\u2014got Long Beach\u2019s own Tijuana Panthers<\/a> to do not just one but two pop-up shows this weekend to bring to life the group\u2019s signature mix of southern-fried punk and swagger with pop catchiness.<\/p>\n First, they hit up the famed Pike Bar and Grill for a show that was intimately captivating. Opening with \u201cNew Boots,\u201d it was hard to not immediately fall for guitarist Chad Wachtel and vocalist\/bassist Daniel Michicoff\u2019s riffs and lines. Follow that with \u201cFather Figure,\u201d from Semi-Sweet<\/em>, and I challenge anyone not to swoon at Wachtel\u2019s timeless guitar work on the track.<\/p>\n Secondly, the Panthers hit up Bixby Park and opened with \u201cFour Horsemen,\u201d a less-than-two-minute-long sonic sweep of surf-rock-gone-punk, and the lead track off their latest album, Wayne Interest<\/em>. The album\u2019s lead single, \u201cCherry St.,\u201d was performed as well, while previous tracks\u2014like 2013\u2019s \u201cTony\u2019s Song\u201d from Semi-Sweet<\/em>\u2014offered both fans and newcomers to the Panthers a taste of their garage-y sound.<\/p>\n While often compared to The Allah-Las (who share the Innovative Leisure label with the Panthers, and headlined S.A.M.\u2019s Dancin\u2019 In the Streets earlier this year<\/a>), the Panthers don\u2019t aim for the surf-gone-sleepy quality of the Allah-Las. Rather, the Panthers’ nostalgia for a time the young band could only have experienced through film and old Beach Boys albums is expressed by taking surf tunes and punk and doo-wop and mixing \u2018em up until it’s something all their own (such Pike closer \u201cFired\u201d from their latest or Bixby Park closer, \u201cThis Town,\u201d from their debut, Max Baker<\/em>).<\/p>\n According to Scott Coats from Innovative Leisure, nearly 400 people attended the two shows, with Hectus saying that with the \u201coverwhelming response, I think it is safe to say this won’t be the last pop-up show you see from us.\u201d<\/p>\n {gallery}addison\/TijuanaPanthers2014{\/gallery}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"