Gold Panda at The Workmans Club on June 11th 2011
Review: Conor Skinnader
Photos: Alan Moore
Few artists can say they have a back catalogue as huge as Gold Panda’s while still being relatively unknown. With supposedly one hundred plus unreleased tracks to pick and choose from, not to mention his many remixes, he released Lucky Shiner last year, quickly gaining a large number of plaudits throughout the music industry. It was impossible to tell before the gig whether he would stick to material from this album, play some of his more popular remixes or see what his fans were made of by digging deep down into his more obscure tracks.
The Workman’s Club was absolutely packed and it felt like the sweat was already starting to drip off the walls by the time I got there. Gold Panda was just arriving onto the stage illuminated only by a backdrop of a toy panda on the projector behind him. The atmosphere was laden with an air of expectation as he hunched over his quite limited equipment set in his customary hoody and got to work, opening with an incredibly long intro.
It wasn’t long before he rolled out one of his big-hitters – ‘You’ which got a massive reception from the crowd. What was notable from the very start was that even his more chilled out tracks had an extra rawness about them live, coupled with bass that was notably more crunchy and could really be felt reverberating through the floor. The crowd needn’t have worried about him playing much of his lesser known material as he proceeded to play quite a few tracks off Lucky Shiner and his previous EP’s. Standout tracks included the aforementioned You, Quitters Raga, Marriage and Snow. Unfortunately I don’t know his material well enough to name any of the other tracks he played, which were all melted into an absolutely seamless live performance.
Gold Panda in a live setting is notable for how he flits between elements of dubstep, electronica and techno while incorporating Asian and African sounds. It is this unique approach that has placed him in a niche and seen his fanbase multiply rapidly on the back of his remixes for artists such as Bloc Party, Caribou, Zero 7, The Field and Lykke Li. This was an absolutely exceptional gig and those who missed out should be kicking themselves for doing so.
I for one would love to see Gold Panda playing a festival in Ireland this summer and am surprised he hasn’t been signed to any. However it’s only a matter of time before he receives more mainstream recognition and my guess is that for the time being, his fans will want to keep him for themselves so that they can continue to enjoy him in more intimate settings such as the Workman’s Club.