Hollywood Palladium Hollywood, CA
Contact: panchikomanagement@gmail.com
Web: panchiko.net
Players: Owain Davies, vocals; Andy Weight, guitar and keyboard; Shaun Ferreday, bass; Rob Harris, guitar; John Schofield, drums
The Hollywood Palladium welcomed British indie rock group Panchiko and a legion of their fans—and their fans’ nose rings—for their tour following the release of their latest album, Ginkgo. From the get-go, the audience was ridiculously enthusiastic in anticipation of Panchiko, contrasted by the more laidback and gentle performances from both openers, untitled (halo) and Kitty Craft, respectively. Despite some technical difficulties during Kitty Craft’s set, the shoegaze angle of untitled (halo) along with Kitty Craft’s warm tonality teased the artistry yet to come from the headliners.
Panchiko’s artistic identity is built on the DIY attitude characteristic of the late-20th century rock scene alongside the group’s mythologized origin story in which they remained in obscurity since their inception in the late 1990s—that is, until a CD of their demo was found in a charity shop in 2016 and uploaded to the internet where they gained a cult following online, eventually leading to the group being tracked down in 2020 and remastering their older music later that year.
Despite the momentum Panchiko has steadily gained since remastering their music and releasing several albums, the members of Panchiko reflected their roots as each member came out on stage one at a time to set up their own gear on stage in the half hour leading up to their showtime, earning frenzy from the crowd before the biggest show they have ever done had even started.
After much ado and a light show, the five members finally emerged at the same time to kick off with “Stabilisers for Big Boys,” a bombastic opener that instantly paid off the static electricity in the crowd. The set continued to relieve the built-up tension with track after track from their fresh record, Ginkgo, though they peppered in some more nostalgic tunes like “Untitled Demo 1997.” The glue holding the distance between Panchiko’s past and present tracks together was each member’s impressive musicality. John Schofield’s work on the drums was jaw-dropping, to say the least, the beating heart of a wall of sound that the group erected with the start of each song.
Despite the show being incredible for the entirety of its duration, Panchiko really knows how to stick the landing. The final stretch began with their most popular song, “Death Metal,” a performance so lush that the crowd began chanting the band’s name for a minute straight once the song was over. In a proper moment of using his gift of the gab, Davies dubbed the audience a bunch of “silly sausages” before launching into “Laputa” and breaking away to set up the encore of “All They Wanted” and “Kicking Cars.”
