Going from an internet mystery that looked like it was never going to be solved to a well-known cult classic band across the UK, there isn’t any other Nottingham outfit that has been on as much of a journey as Panchiko…
It’s a story that feels almost too perfectly internet-aged: a band from late-90s Nottingham, forgotten in the cracks of CD-Rs and early demos, reemerging two decades later thanks to a random 4chan post.
Panchiko, once a ghost of the UK’s underground, are now very much real, standing under the lights of Rough Trade Nottingham, playing to a packed-out crowd that likely never imagined this night would come — least of all the band themselves.
Formed in 1997 by school friends in Nottingham, Panchiko quietly released their only known EP D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L in 2000. The project was barely heard at the time, pressed on a handful of CDs and lost to time — until someone stumbled on a degraded copy in the Oxfam charity shop in Sherwood in 2016 before posting it online.
From there, Panchiko’s mythos grew. Now, fast-forward to 2025 and they're riding a wave of nostalgic glitch-pop and shoegaze, selling out shows across continents, with a huge US tour fast approaching later this year.
They said they didn’t want the crowd in Rough Trade to be too packed in, as they wanted everyone to feel comfortable — though by the time the set kicked off, the venue was near bursting. There was no denying the energy in the room. And when the band launched into Ginkgo, the title track of their new album, its lo-fi shimmer and delicate vocals wrapped the crowd in a quiet euphoria.
Soon after came All They Wanted, another fan-favourite. As the song built, someone in the front row FaceTimed a friend, holding up their phone so they too could catch a glimpse. It felt like a perfect full-circle moment — this band resurrected online, now being beamed back through a screen to someone else, somewhere else, mid-performance.
“This is weird,” said frontman Owain, between songs. “Maybe some of you have bumped into us in the street or whatever.” Despite their cult status, the members of Panchiko evidently feel just like the rest of us Nottingham citizens, having abandoned the limelight all those years ago in favour of a more mundane existence until the universe plucked them from obscurity.
One of the biggest moments came with Chapel of Salt — the most intense, rock-forward track of the night. Crunchy guitars and a wave of catharsis filled the space. The band told us this song has a music video made by their “good friend Simon, who’s somewhere in the crowd,” before asking us all to thank him.
As the end of the set crept closer, the band gave us fair warning: just two songs left. They took a moment to thank the crowd for caring about tunes they made “years ago,” when none of this seemed possible. Stabilisers for Big Boys was a standout — warm, glitchy, effortlessly melancholy — and then came the closer: Kicking Cars. A thunderous final song, delivered with soaring vocals and raw energy that pushed everything just a little higher. It was the perfect sign-off.
From forgotten demos to emotional singalongs, Panchiko’s Nottingham homecoming to celebrate the release of their new album Ginkgo was more than just a gig. It was a celebration of second chances, strange journeys and the weird beauty of the internet.
Panchiko performed at Rough Trade Nottingham on 13th April 2025.
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