Panda Riot, FFM, A Camp

 As it is with many bands I first learn of them through Scary Lady Sarah.   Panda Riot is one such band. I first  saw this local shoe-gaze band during some national holiday weekend, a Sunday night.  It was an all Sarah weekend.  The Saturday before she held a yard sale/vegan bbq and I recall going and having fun with friends that I normally see in a goth night.   From Sarah's I was off to see Long Blondes, but once again this is about Panda Riot.  They were first before STAR another awesome local shoe-gaze band, who were the original reason for going to The Abbey Pub that night.  It was a good night to be a novice to a local shoe-gaze night for this was the night your short attention span was harnessed and focused.  And it was a good night to have a few behind you to better appreciate what was before me in that moment.  Each of Panda Riot's songs had it's own intangible yet recognizable signature, evoking and capturing different sentiments.  It's like I'm in a different indy film in each one.  It's like a splash of rose water that wakes you to a pleasant Monday morning that feels like a Friday for no reason at all.  In a goth night this is the shoe-gaze to dance too.  Ever since learning about this band I play them all the time in the car and I've gone to see them again and again in places like Empty Bottle, and Darkroom.  I feel fortunate to have them living in Chicago.  They are playing again this Wednesday at Subterranean.  

  Here are some moments captured during some of their performances.  I'll see bands like this over again like a compulsion.  There are the things that hook you in the beginning and there are things that one can appreciate over a span of performances.