Panda Bear at the Castle and Falcon: Delightfully immersive and strange

Castle and Falcon, Birmingham, 3 June 2025

Noah Lennox, known as Panda Bear, and his band sound just as if not more mesmerising live. Songs such as ‘Defense’ and ‘Ends Meet’  are especially elevated hearing them live. The satisfying, experimental, and conceptual blend of psychedelic pop, indie, and dub strike a perfect chord live, which bring out its sound. This psychedelic experience is immersive, featuring trippy visuals and a captivated crowd.

The show opens with Lennox’s tour band featuring Maria Reis, Rivka Ravede, Tome Silva and Tim Koh, who impress and set the stage for a cool and fun environment. The band also recreate and expand upon their recorded work with their stunning vocals and poppy contributions.

The stage is set with the opening ‘Venoms In’, which brings the crowd in and creates a connection as one of the more emotionally poignant tracks on the album Sinister Grift. The song sounds better live, owing to the emotions of being present and around others who are equally immersed.

The creative visuals added much to what was already a largely pleasurable experience

One of the greatest aspects of the concert is its immersion. Illustrated by the fact that there is not a phone in sight (beautiful) and everyone was enthralled by the smooth soundscapes. The creative visuals added much to what was already a largely pleasurable experience, with Panda Bear being interesting and humorous throughout the evening. Finally, the vocals and instrumentation contained much of what was enjoyable from Panda Bear’s catalogue but adapted – quite craftily – for a live experience.

While Panda Bear and music of its kind don’t usually attract gleeful and rowdy crowds, with the vibe being more immersive and cool, many of the songs and elements incorporated live led to high amounts of enthusiasm. Hearing lots of cheers and gleeful amazement was great, as every single song at the gig was met with a cheerful response from the crowd, owing to the tight atmosphere at the Castle and Falcon, and the efforts put into the live show.

The concert was wonderfully psychedelic, mind-affecting, and crucially enabled me to experience a soundscape that was delightfully weird

What is also admirable about Panda Bear’s gig and his recent album is that after many listens, its resonant and infectious qualities do not seem to disappear, and hopefully they continue to remain. Following numerous recorded listens and a live gig, there are new aspects of particular songs or certain lyrics that can be admired and resonated with, owing to such a creative, interesting, and rich with emotional depth album.

It is difficult to find many faults beyond the realm of nitpicking. Perhaps, it could have been a bit longer and featured certain songs from Sinister Grift that did not appear. Yet, the set list was tight and Panda Bear and his band never overstayed their welcome.

It was a killer and no-nonsense performance from Lennox and his band. While experimental and varied, many can enjoy his work or appreciate the effort and creativity involved. Both his past and recent work with Sinister Grift ‘scratch many itches’, so while you may not like certain elements, you may surely love others. Hopefully, this review has sold his work well and has encouraged you to give it a listen. The concert was wonderfully psychedelic, mind-affecting, and crucially enabled me to experience a soundscape that was delightfully weird.

★★★★★