Halfway through the Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad’s set, a student walked into the room amid one of the band’s up-tempo reggae songs, threw his coat against a wall and immediately started dancing toward the stage, his curly hair bobbing all the way.

This relaxed, social vibe was apparent Thursday night at the Schine Underground, where Giant Panda played a show as a part of the campus-wide Focus the Nation event.

‘Giant Panda was an important part of tonight’s festivities; they have a good environmentally friendly message,’ said Alejandro Fernandez, a junior who helped to organize the event. ‘Plus they’re a great band. I see them at Funk ‘N Waffles all the time.’

The relatively low crowd turnout did not faze Giant Panda as it launched into its set with the song ‘In These Times.’ The band got the audience away from the back of the venue right up to the front of the stage.

The bass-heavy song complete with an ‘oooh oooh’ chorus moved the crowd, and they didn’t stop until the last guitar chord rang out.

Head bopping, hip swaying, jumping up and down – the audience stayed active throughout the entire show. Giant Panda, who has toured with reggae greats The Wailers and Toots & the Maytals, had slow grooves and frantic guitar-driven tunes that kept the energy high for the duration of the whole show.

‘This was my first reggae show,’ said Sara Turnbull, a freshman music education major. ‘It was kind of nice that there weren’t that many people here, that way everyone could dance and have a good time.’

Lead guitarist and vocalist Matthew O’Brian had the perfect voice for the Rochester-based band’s reggae songs; it could go from soft and mellow to raw screams and not sound off-pitch or forced.

Despite the sparse lyrics in its songs, bassist James Searl and guitarist Dylan Savage shared vocals with O’Brian, their voices blending and harmonizing well.

With lyrics like, ‘Just because you’re simple doesn’t mean you’re not sexy,’ the band’s easygoing and laidback nature was apparent. Other songs like ‘Burkina Faso’ took on a more political tone.

Most of Giant Panda’s songs had extended jam solos by nearly every member of the seven-person band, including a few drum and bass solos that ignited cheers and applause from the crowd.

‘I really enjoyed their set a lot,’ said Adrianna Gricius, a freshman music education major. ‘It’s so easy to dance to their music, and there was a great group of people here tonight. Everyone was respectful and relaxed.’

Giant Panda’s short 45-minute set never lost its energy as the band only spoke to the crowd once throughout its show, to credit Tom Robbins, a lyricist who penned the song ‘Incognito.’

‘This song is appropriate for the message we’re promoting tonight,’ said singer O’Brian. ‘Focus The Nation is an important event for everyone across the country.’

Giant Panda then jumped into its final songs, both up-tempo tunes that created tension with guitars and bass and resolved with crashing drums and piano crescendos that caused the stuffed panda on Aaron Lipp’s organ to shake.

It was difficult for anyone at the Underground to stand still, as those on the peripheries of the stage eventually gravitated toward the band and the rest of the audience dancing.

The intimate atmosphere worked well for Giant Panda’s reggae show, as people socialized and mingled with friends and strangers, clearly enjoying the music and the atmosphere.

‘Their heavy funky beats are perfect to dance to, it’s really chill,’ said Justin Secor, a junior environmental students major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. ‘I’ve seen Giant Panda a bunch of times, their live show is always great.’

Published on January 31, 2008 at 12:00 pm