GPGDS Syracuse New Times July 2007

Hippie heaven beamed itself from the mothership into Hanover Square for the June 14 edition of the Thursday-night summertime Hanover Original Party Series (H.O.P.S.). Wistful chicks in hemp dresses and the usual gaggle of jam-band dudes in need of a collective shave set up camp around dusk to hear local world-music afficionados Akuma Roots.

Yet the crowd was pulled into a trance by the way-cool vibes of up-and-coming reggae band, the Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, in a show that lasted well beyond the witching hour. Akuma Roots, more of an informal collective of reggae-bent musicians than a formal band, seems to feature new members every time they perform. Sometimes-drummer Josh Williams has a tangible degree of talent to crack spontaneous fills, which gives the group some spunky texture, and the wah-pedaled wash of guitarist Adam Carpinelli lends a funky edge to the outfit’s often nameless instrumental tunes. While Akuma Roots needs more cohesiveness for its jammy sound, lead vocalist David Etse Brown helped command the show with ethnic lyrics and danceable vocals. The Pandas casually took the stage around 9 p.m. for an audience of nearly 200 20-somethings. The group, formed in Rochester in 2001 with brothers Matthew and Christopher O’Brian, has a knack for focusing the loose feeling of reggae music that defies the endless watered-down riffs of Bob Marley’s “Stir It Up” that so many reggae bands seem to write.

Instead, lead singer Matthew O’Brian’s John Lennon look and thematic lyrics imply there’s some genuine planning that goes into the Pandas’ groove, even if their song themes are less about revolution than having a good time. At H.O.P.S., the front man bounced the reggae sway while circling around the stage to keep tabs on his band mates with what seemed to be a set of hand signals a la baseball’s first-base coaches. On a dime, the group was able to instantaneously pull itself out of seemingly amorphous instrumental jams, often to the shock of the entranced audience. Surely, that takes skill.

Not all of the Pandas’ tunes are lighthearted romps through the syncopated rastafied genre. Sure, verse that gently nudges warnings about resisting the emotional effects of reefer proclaimed, “Don’t let that paranoia get the best of you!” Yet other subtle political messages came through the haze: “I want to love you/ It’s my country, too/ I can do anything I want to/ But it’s hard when you’re doing the things you do.”

Also noteworthy is the group’s oh-so-cute Fender Rhodes keyboardist Rachel Orke. As pig-tailed Orke flashed her doe eyes to the crowd and took it slow by gently grooving with the reggae rhythm, she also soloed on a few instrumentals, proving she has an ability to write neat, arpeggiated leads. Orke explained after the show that the reason she chose her axe has to do with the way the instrument feels under her fingers: “The pressure of the keys is something else. The first time I played one, I knew I had to have a Rhodes.”

Bassist James Searl, a preppy player who just seems to fit with the band, also accompanied Aaron Lipp, the group’s second keyboardist on Clavinet and a Rhodes of his own, and special percussionist Buddy Honeycutt, who added the pitter-patter of congas and the splash of tambourines to many of the band’s songs. Perhaps the most striking thing about Giant Panda is that they actualize a socialist philosophy that many other bands are unable to match: No one person stands out as the clear star of the group and in the case of Giant Panda, that’s a good thing.

Giant Panda had a pleasant experience last March when they journeyed to Jamaica for spring-break performances. Catching a buzz (no pun intended) from the ganja haven, Searl explains that they’ve since been able to book gigs throughout the country. Earlier this month they were expecting an audience of uninformed fans during a trip to Charleston, S.C.; instead, the gig was mobbed with hundreds of people. “They all said things like, ‘I saw you in Jamaica,’ and ‘I saw you at a state college,’ and ‘My friend who saw you at all those gigs told me to check you out,’” Searl says. “That’s when it clicked what all our traveling meant.” As a result, the group opened for legendary jammers Toots and the Maytals June 15 at the Rochester International Jazz Festival.

Yet Searl says his favorite gig is whenever the Pandas simply pack their gear and show up unexpectedly for a crowd to play for free. The group did just that when they arrived at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tenn. “We left directly after {the show with Toots} to drive down to Bonnaroo to set up guerilla-style,” Searl says. “That’s kind of where the ‘guerilla’ part of our name comes from.”