Words: Matthew Moore
★★★★☆
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Somewhere in a Nottingham charity shop, a battered CD sat quietly waiting to be rescued. A couple of decades and an internet rabbit hole later, it has led to a sold-out Cardiff Tramshed full of teenagers streaming lyrics from a band older than most of them. Welcome to the strangest, sweetest success story in indie.
Photo: Lindsay Melbourne
Alison’s Halo
Taking the stage in a room that was already filling out fast, dream-pop legends Alison’s Halo delivered an opening set that felt part nostalgic excavation, part shimmering rebirth. From the first swell of guitar and room-shaking basslines, the band wrapped the venue in a warm blanket of classic ’90s shoegaze. The songs sounded vibrant live, infectious loops and lush reverb-drenched melodies cutting cleanly through the ambient hum. Vocalist Catherine Cooper’s ethereal, whispery phrasing floated above the wall of noise, a gentle hypnotic contrast to the drums and rhythms beneath.
What made this set especially fascinating was watching a pioneering act play to such a young crowd; I myself was not the oldest in the audience by far, but the majority were clearly Gen Z, yet they engaged deeply, swaying in unison as the guitars built towards feedback-laden climaxes. By the time the band closed with the swirling final notes of ‘Dozen’, they had set a beautifully hazy tone for the evening.
Panchiko
When Panchiko walked on, the tension in the room snapped into a roar. Opening with ‘Stabilisers for Big Boys’, the band wasted no time plunging the venue into their signature mix of lo-fi indie, glitched-out samples & melancholic Alt-Rock. Frontman Owain Davies sounded stellar.
The atmosphere was electric, and much of that came from a passionate crowd who found the band through internet lostwave lore and TikTok algorithms rather than the original release. That youth performed an unbelievable pulse. During standouts like ‘Ginko’ and ‘Failed at Math(s)’, the floor bounced chaotically and continuously, with lyrics shouted back at a volume that rivalled Tramshed's own PA. Retro visuals beamed behind the band, drawing a cheer any time something familiar flickered onto the screen.
The Peak came with the intro to ‘D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L’. The instant the iconic, distorted opening sample rang out, a sea of phones lit the air, and the venue erupted into a communal singalong. Davies took the time to thank the audience for breathing new life into songs written decades ago in relative obscurity.
Closing with the slow-burning crescendo of ‘Kicking Cars’, Gen Z’s answer to Radiohead brought the room from high-octane frenzy to a reflective, peaceful finish, capping a remarkable night. Panchiko are special, humble, and absolutely crushing it.