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Show Lineup
Alison's Halo, Panchiko
Genre(s)
Alison's Halo: Dreampop-shoegaze
Panchiko: British dream pop / art rock
Venue
The Rialto Theatre in Tucson, Arizona
Date
10/28/2024
It was October 28, 2024. My sister and I descended from the Centro parking garage. On our way out, we saw the line into The Rialto Theatre stretch across the block. My sister and I giggled in anticipation for the show. I bought these tickets months in advance as a birthday present for my sister. The dream materialized into reality as we scanned our tickets and stepped into the venue.
The Rialto is one of my personal favorites to watch concerts in. The standing area is on a gradient to allow people in the back a chance to see, and (at least in all of the shows I've gone to) you have teh option of sitting on the balcony to get a great areal view - at no extra cost.
My sister and I gnudged out way towards the front to join both my friends and collegues. the air was filled with chatter and a whirr of exictement, then lights dimmed - a silence fell across the room. The stage glowed a bright blue, on came Alison's Halo.
I was familiar with their work. My personal favorite songs by them are Dozen and Slowbleed (which they played - yippie!) however, there was definetly some super fans amongst the crowd.
Their intruments billowed through the air - subdueing the audience. It was really a magical sensation. I'm really into shoegaze (refer to my Glixen and Glare review) and I've always wondered how people get those dream like vocals. I have discovered that it is usually done through a little auditory work on the back end but I was really taken back by how the dreamy vocals of Alison's Halo is purely (with a little reverd added) the work of the singer Catherine Cooper.
I quite literally felt like my head was in the clouds during their entire set. They were so kind and humble when interacting with the audience. The whole vibe was really down to earth.
I got to speak with Catherine after the show (well more like fan girling and her just listening) and she is so sweet and kind! I really appreciate her going out of her way to get the other band members to sign my CD!
Following Alison's Halo came Panchiko.
It was actually kind of funny because the audience was really quiet when they came out for the first time to set up. My sister and I joked that it was a Gorillaz moment - like what do you mean its 2 British guys and not a green goblin, a man with no eyes, a 7 foot tall black man, and an asain girl? After they set up, they disipeared behind the curtain and came back out - AGAIN! This time they came out to roaring applause.
They opened their set with Eyes of Ibad which is among my favorites.
I really love how they did their entire set. There were psychadelic projections, chopped up anime backdrops, and really an interactive audio-visual sensory experience! Everything felt very raw and vulnerable which was kind of an interesting experience that I'm not used to feeling at big shows like this.
The entirity of teh whole experience was so sureel especially because they unexpectly dropped that they were releasing new music! They played a song called Hot Potato (I think) so keep an eye out for that in the future!
Of course they had to close their show with their cult classic D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L. That song is somewhat sentimental to me because that was the first song I ever heard from them. My sister was playing it on her speakers and I asked her what the song was. She gatekept it from me at the time but I eventually was able to Shazam it. I wonder if I weren't so persistent, I wouldn't have ended up going to this show.
Overall, this was a perfect 10/10 experience. From the amazing performances to the stunning visuals and the beautiful interactions with teh audience, there is no way thsi should couldn't have been done better.
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