GIG REVIEW: Gold Panda/Banjo Or Freakout/Ghost Eyes @ Corsica Studios, London

Last night, thanks to Ghost Eyes’ generosity I was able to head down to Corsica Studios to catch their gig supporting Gold Panda, alongside Banjo Or Freakout. Shuffling into the venue, just round the corner from Elephant & Castle tube station, I realised how small and intimate it was, thus brilliant. I definitely think you should check out Corsica if you get the chance.

First up, as mentioned, were the brilliant, previously featured, Ghost Eyes, playing their own glitchy, noise-filled electronica. I feel that I can now safely say there are 3 members of the band, unless they are just for touring? This comes after prior speculation, but regardless, they performed brilliantly. It captured what is so good about the Ghost Eyes songs; sparse, spaced out and sample-filled, with the loud droning beats and the ghostly vocals that had me enamored. They had only a short supporting set, but it was enough to leave me definitely impressed and recommend you check out Ghost Eyes. They ended with the brilliant “Elephant” which you can stream below.
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Following not long after were Banjo Or Freakout, who I had admittedly only heard of before. But I enjoyed the set, which was admittedly quite funky, electronic and nicely danceable, with dare-I-say-it a tinge of lo-fi fuzziness?. Their songs made a nice bridging between acts, with a stronger positivity tied to their songs than those of Ghost Eyes, which definitely built the crowd’s anticipation. It’s persuaded me to check out more of their stuff because people were actually going mad for them, seriously getting into the eb and flow of the music. It was nice to see. Download/Stream two songs below.
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Gold Panda, once his nicely set-up table was ready, kicked right into a blisteringly good set, showcasing how well his songs translate to a live performance. Undoubtedly, as was expected, songs like “You” and “Quitter’s Raga” were big highlights. The former definitely generated the biggest response of any during the night, but what else was going to happen? It’s a fan-beloved masterpiece, the song that arguably has put him on the map. By the time he had came on stage, people were already chanting his name and the admittedly small venue was packed full of people.

The songs, when live, contain stronger, heavier beats, aided by Gold Panda’s mixing and added distortion of their originals, helping to make each sound like a club banger. Coupled with the heavy bass beats and the erratic, but always in time dancing, was a visual film projected on to the wall behind the stage. Flickers of light, colour and images that astounded the eyes and definitely fit in with the music that he was playing. It made the show very much an assault on the senses.

He played the majority of Lucky Shiner during the show, the crowd’s anticipation between songs and triumphant cheers to the most recognizable intros was almost good as hearing the songs themselves. It put a smile on his face too, You could tell that he was enjoying the show. Hell, he closed the set with a brilliant rendition of “Quitter’s Raga”, which for me was the best song of the whole night, then he was buzzing so much that the crowd’s cheers, mine included, convinced him to do an encore of sorts with two more songs. It was a fantastic way to round off the night, showing a man who loves what he does. If you ever get the chance to see Gold Panda, go, you’ll quickly realise why his shows sell out. Stream “Quitter’s Raga” and “Same Dream China” below.
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