From being lost media on a shelf, forgotten, and full of disk rot, to me getting lost in the crowd at a sold-out show in Bristol. Panchiko has compelled fans since their EP was found in an Oxfam in Nottingham. I arrived about an hour before doors opened at Electric Bristol at 5:30pm. Turns out it was not early enough, as passionate fans were already wrapped around the corner. No matter the cold, wet, and breezy weather, fans were dressed in their cool alt, modern punk outfits, early and excited for the show. You could have practically been hypnotized from the amount of stripes in the crowd (in the coolest way possible of course). The venue staff at Electric were pleasant and everything felt neatly organized. Closer to when doors opened, the staff took extra care to give attention to the accessibility line, making sure accessibility needs were met for everyone.
Fans lined up outside the venue
Going towards the stage I was passed by multiple fans running trying to secure spots as close as possible to the stage, they quickly managed to fill the deep blue-lit venue. I took my spot at the right side of the slightly lower main floor, another concertgoer who was also alone began chatting to me and invited me up to the semi-raised right stage, which I am eternally grateful for because the view was much better from up there! Their friendly energy accurately reflected the overall mood of the audience. Many people throughout the night struck up conversations with me, and all of them were equally lovely! The crowd was filled with a ton of uni students, couples, friend groups, and lots of parents with their teens - which made my heart warm. My favorite crowd member probably had to be the one guy in a banana suit, hard to miss ya know? Owain Davies, the lead singer, even shouted them out!
Bannana man crowd surfing during CUT
During intermission, I took a trip to the merch station and secured myself a death metal CD. 50 concerts down, I have practically mastered my ability to “excuse me” my way into a crowd. This was a much-needed skill because the crowd had grown 10-fold. From the back of the general admission crowd, I could barely see the stage through the hundreds and hundreds of fans. It was probably closer to 1000 because Electric Bristol’s main room capacity is 1050-1100! This was a sold-out show, so it was packed to the brim. Once finally back to my amazing spot, thanks to my lovely new friend, Panchiko was getting ready to deliver a spectacular set.
Starting off strong, Panchiko kicked it off with the energetic Stabilisers For Big Boys. This incited an absolute roar from an equally energetic audience filled with anticipation. Blue and red stage lights swayed with a background visual reminiscent of some sort of metallic oil-slick animation. Davies had such sharp and crisp vocals, and the sound design of the show was incredible. The vocals never really felt as drowned out as I maybe would have expected due to the noisy, bit-textured, hazy sounds Panchiko is known and loved for.
The 4th song on the setlist, CUT, was absolutely electric and one of the standout performances of the evening for me. The crowd reacted strongly to the song and began to dance harder than before. The guitarists, Andy Wright (guitar, keys, producer) and Rob Harris (guitar and synth), were absolutely legendary. The song started with strong synthy progression with some complementary guitar chords. Andy absolutely killed his guitar shred, ushering Davies to come in hot with the vocals right after, getting the crowd wild. It was really like watching a symphony, but instead of classical music it was an indie rock dream. There was so much multitasking done by everyone to make the performance come to life. John Schofield, the drummer, gave life and cadence to the sound. His playing tied everything together and was what gave a trance-like feeling over the crowd as people moved and swayed to his beat and tempo. Shaun Ferreday’s (bassist), sound is literally the deep anchor for what the rest of the music is built off of. Hearing it come through during some of the busier moments was so satisfying. Wright and Harris were killing it on the synthesizers and samplers, adding all the effects to give us that gritty shoegaze indie rock sound live. I was thoroughly impressed. I think CUT really got to me because of all of the effects being done in real time. Davies' use of his iconic second mic was mind-blowing. It sounded so gritty and almost like a voice-box type of sound. That is a sound I’m just not expecting to hear live, let alone executed so well, but the geniuses behind Panchiko did not disappoint.
Panchiko has been playing some new music on this tour from a brand new album called Chimera which is set to come out April 9th 2027, these songs are called Giorgia, Overwrite, and One Car Hits Another with the last one being my favourite of the new bunch!
One of my favorite aspects of the whole show was the energy the band members had with the music and the audience. It was so much fun in every way possible. The band members all dancing and really feeling their music on stage had an infectious energy that spread through the whole crowd. Especially Ferreday, who was laughing and joking with the fans all night. He even engaged in a few rounds of rock, paper, scissors! You could really feel from the band that they wanted to be there and were having as much fun playing for the crowd as we were listening to them.
The band from left to right: Ferreday (bass), Davies (singer / guitar), Wright (Guitar, keys, sampler), Schofield (drums), Harris (guitar,
synth)
This could not be a complete Panchiko review article without covering the most anticipated song of the night. D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L. The song started with the iconic sound bit sampled throughout the song: “This is a game CD for Sega Saturn System…so please don’t play the track…it might damage your audio system” followed by slow guitar chords. Everyone sang every lyric word for word. It was a very stripped beginning, which was great because it gave room for Davies to really shine and the audience to sing as loud as possible. Then you get the little keys progression, with the chopped “don’t play the track” iconic sound bit coming through. The crowd absolutely lost it as they began playing anime scenes behind their song. Panchiko paid homage during the song that put them on the map, to the influences that made them who they are today. Davies on the vocals folded over singing “WHERE'D SHE GOOOOOO” is now a core memory for me. He had the perfect level of emotion and grit that added a new type of life to the song in comparison to the studio version. Perfection. As if that performance wasn’t everything a Panchiko fan could ask for, it was immediately followed by Laputa, a song adored by anyone who comes across it. Still playing in the background, an iconic anime compilation that partly shaped the sound and style we love. Hearing songs live that were released in 2000 performed 26 years later made me feel weirdly emotional for some reason. Panchiko resurfaced exactly 10 years ago and it has left me feeling really nostalgic which the music is utterly perfect for.
To finish off their closing run, they ended the night with the energetic Kicking Cars. The band members took pictures of everyone getting absolutely hyped up before giving setlists away to fans and throwing guitar picks into the crowd.
Owain Davies watched a Studio Ghibli movie once as a kid, fell in love with it, and then never saw that movie again, as it was a random broadcast of the movie in French. He mentioned not knowing if it ever really even existed, that maybe this movie he loved so much was just a dream. Funny how that aspect became a concrete core of Panchiko’s identity today. Lost in an Oxfam in Nottingham, mysterious, no one knowing where this music came from. Is the music / band even real? This feeling is also captured throughout their music; spacey, ethereal, dream rock, nostalgic. Like missing something you have never experienced. I found it really refreshing to listen to them live. What a totally different experience than listening in your room. Their orchestration of music was phenomenal to see live. Every single member really had their time to shine. If you ever get the chance to see Panchiko live, DO IT!!!!
All photo credits also to Anaiz Rangel