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Show Lineup: Panchiko, Alison's Halo
Genre(s): Dream-Pop, Indietronica, Indie Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Shoegaze
Venue: Rialto Theater
Date: 10/28/24
Description:
After hurrying into the historic Rialto Theater, I was aghast at the size of the crowd. Despite getting in there 30 minutes after doors, the size of the crowd pushed back farther than I had seen in the Rialto before (at least, this early into the show!). Supposedly, as my friend informed me, people had been lining up for four hours! What was the cause of all this fuss? What drives people to line up for four hours? The answer slowly became clear to me as the night wound on. I was there to see Panchiko, one of my favorite (as well as one of KAMP's favorite!) bands. Their online discussion shrowded in mysteries, apocryphal stories of their beginnings discussed in internet chat rooms and KAMP parties for years, I could tell the audience was excited. I tend think a lot of online discussion and arguing (especially with this band's tenuous connections to 4chan and other online communities) eventually leads to bad crowds, but I was surprised to see a lot of young kids being respectful. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how well-behaved the crowd was. No ridiculous antics (besides some light attempted banter with the artists), no insane and out-of touch moshing (I remember seeing such at a Duster show with a particularly bad crowd), and a general positive vibe! It's probably time I stop yapping and talk about the music. First up was Alison's Halo, a reunited 90s Shoegaze band from Mesa, AZ!
I was blown away by Alison's Halo. I expected them to be good (I've heard a couple of their songs in my generic Spotify "Shoegaze Classics" playlist), but I walked away a much bigger fan than when I came in. Their sounds translate extremely well live, with their extended song structures lending energy to ambient passages and guitar solos. They were really loud, something I'm always expecting these 90s Shoegaze bands to be. (I mean, the one day when I see My Bloody Valentine and lose my hearing completely will be the happiest day of my life). They do the classic mixed female/male vocals really well too, and the band looked super appreciate to be playing such a big show in their home state. They closed with "Dozen", a fan favorite. I thought it was an absolutely electric performance. All I could hear in the crowd afterwards was everyone talking about how excellent they were, and how surprising their performance was. I'll be on the lookout for more from them in the future, and would happily pop by a headlining show if they come back down to Tucson. Finally, after some setup and projection work, it was time for Panchiko!
I've been a fan of Panchiko since about sophmore year of high school. I really liked their initial debut EP, and felt sorta so-so about about their follow up LP, despite some really excellent singles. However, all of the material from that LP they preformed last night just blew me away. I could really feel every musical piece of the song, and some of my favorites from the record like "Until I Know" and "Gwen Everest" sounded much better in a live context. They also played pretty much all of their acclaimed "Ferric Oxide" and "D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L" EPs, which the crowd was really into. They came out to "The Eyes of Ibad", an epic 7 minute jam to start the show. I could tell they were having a really good time, and their bassist Shawn was consistently talking to and waving at the crowd, which I really appreciated. The songs started to blur into an excellent performance, as the audience stood entranced by their really neat projections behind them. I really enjoyed the projections, which seemed to be a corrupted sort of data feed of a livestream of the band preforming! I couldn't tell where the camera was, but the colorful angles it was getting really wowed me.
It was really great to see a band I've loved for a long time playing a really awesome set, all the way from across the pond! I specifically remember some audience members laughing and finding out in real time that the members of Panchiko were British, a funny representation of how queer it was to see the band in front of us after spending so much time discussing them as faceless artists. I actually had plans to see them last year with Weatherday (which was a dream show of mine, I really love Weatherday) but it was 2 days after I left school :( Finally, they closed with the title track off D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L as well as a noisy jam on "Kicking Cars". It was a really great one-two punch to end the show, as the band waved and the crowd cheered desperately for more (Despite the fact that Panchiko never does encores haha). I had a really great time at this show. It's really cementing the Rialto as one of my favorite venue to see one of these (comparatively) bigger shows. Unrelated to the music, I appreciate their new policy of handing out water bottles to the crowd during set changeover times. I had a really excellent night with Panchiko and Alison's Halo, and strongly recommend you check them both out! Get out and see a show!
Reviewer Name: Micah Dalton
Date of Review: 10/29/24
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