Panchiko astonished SOMA alongside untitled (halo) and Kitty Craft
Last Friday, June 13th, Panchiko played at SOMA alongside openers untitled (halo) and Kitty Craft. The British indie band formed in England around 1997-1998 and released their demo album “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L” in 2000, which initially gathered little attention and led to their disbanding in 2001. Two decades later, in 2020, out of nowhere an anonymous user posted to 4chan trying to track down the band after finding their CD in a thrift store. The thread revitalized the interest in their music, with many demanding the return of the band.
The collective of childhood friends features Andy Wright on keys, Owain Davies on vocals and guitar, and Shaun Ferreday on bass. Since their reforming in 2021 alongside new members Robert Harris on guitar and John Schofield on drums, they have toured extensively throughout the US and Europe. After their concert here in San Diego, Panchiko will go on to play in Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, and beyond into France and the United Kingdom.
untitled (halo) from close by Los Angeles started the night to major applause playing their set of “Finding God”, “Intrusive”, “Limewire”, “that’s honey”, “blunt subconscious”, “skill issue”, and several more. untitled (halo) takes inspiration from the hazy culture of southern California when making their music, formed by a combination of sonic, visual, literary, and film influences. The audience followed along to each song soothed by the band’s wonderful performance.
Kitty Craft from Minneapolis opened up their set in an on-brand fashion, inquiring if anyone in the crowd had visited any of the local cat cafes in the area. Kitty Craft played “Inward Jam”, “Faultered”, “When Fortune Smiles”, “Par 5”, “Charity Stripe”, “Let it in”, “11 Hours and 16 Days”, “17 is such a drag”, and “Alright”. The large crowd unanimously began waving their hands along to “Alright” as they were pulled along through the lofi hip hop and dreamy tones of Kitty Craft.
When Panchiko finally took the stage, the crowd couldn’t hold back their excitement, cheering the entire time the band was setting up. By this point the entire SOMA mainstage floor was packed full of people all excited to hear the unique tunes of Panchiko. Getting straight into it they played a massive set, spanning multiple albums. To be exact they performed “Stabilizers”, “Stuck”, “Ginkgo”, “CUT”, “Gwen Everest” , “Mac’s Omelette”, “Salt”, “Untitled Demo 1997”, “Lifestyle Trainer”, “NeilSSong” , “Honeycomb”, “Until I Know”, “D˃E˃A˃T˃H˃M˃E˃T˃A˃L”, “Laputa”, “All They Wanted” , and finally “Kicking Cars”. Given the rags-to-riches backstory of the band, going from zero to millions of listeners in a blink of the internet, the packed concert definitely amazed the enthusiastic crowd. If you happened to miss this phenomenal concert, Panchiko will continue to play throughout the rest of the US and some of Europe into November.
