Friday November 8, Indiana was host to indie rock icons Panchiko and Trauma Ray. The concert was held in downtown Indianapolis in the Old National Center. The venue was a real surprise because of the lowkey chill vibe that it gave off. The Marott building is a really big place and the concert was held in its basement, the deluxe room. The room was pretty empty at around 7:30pm, but by the time the concert started, at 8pm, the entire place was packed.
The concert started at 8pm and the crowd was welcomed by Trauma Ray. The band was absolutely amazing. They started off by playing “Torn,” a single off of their new album, “Chameleon.” Then they said a few good things about the city and mentioned that they were touring for their new album and immediately started the concert for real by playing “Ember,” the first song off of “Chameleon.” Trauma Ray continued their show without a single word or intermission in between songs. That is definitely not a complaint because the vibe and aura that they put off was amazing. Each member of the band was so locked in and every strum of a guitar or hit of a drum sent a vibration through my body. They wrapped up the album and then left without a word.
Trauma Ray put on a killer show. I still do not know which band performed better. During the fifteen minute intermission between bands, the room somehow filled even more, and the discussion and anticipation about Panchiko grew more and more. At around 9:15 pm, Panchiko made their entrance and gave the crowd a very warm welcome. Owain Davies, Panchiko frontman, really knows how to work the crowd. In between sets he spoke to the audience and cracked jokes in his funky British accent. Andrew Wright, keyboardist and guitar player of the band, was also a riot. He would swap between keyboard and guitar during songs, and always made sure to point and smile at all the fans. They played classics such as “All They Ever Wanted,” “Laputa,” and “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L.” Along with these classics, they played a whole bunch of unreleased music off of a future album.
The concert as a whole was an amazing experience. I was pleasantly surprised. Trauma Ray kept the crowd high energy with their amazing performance, despite Panchiko’s mellow sound. They were really good at getting the crowd to wake up. Panchiko also played perfectly hand in hand with them, keeping the energy alive all throughout the night. The concert ended at around 9:30 pm and I know I definitely left with a smile.