As part of the new Bristol Sounds project, Bonobo and his band returned to the city to promote this year’s release.
We headed down to the iconic skate-spot Lloyds amphitheatre to see how the show would compare to last year’s performance at Colston Hall…
The weather gods were on the crowd’s side as everyone applied their sun lotion in anticipation, forgetting of course that the whole spot was shaded. As the support act finished up their set the atmosphere was building as everybody found their spot, many choosing to sit through the calming vibes expressed by the two piece.
As the stage team swiftly made the minor transition to Bonobo’s set up, bodies began to move closer and before long everybody was on their feet in anticipation. As Bonobo, aka Simon Green, stepped foot onto the stage he was welcomed by a roaring response, the whole band seemed as determined as ever. Green’s confidence and stage presence is more similar to a conductor than a front-man, as he opened the set with his bass guitar centre stage. As the brass section, two drummers and more were introduced, Green alternated between bass guitar, analogue synthesizers effortlessly.
Simon Green, known by his stage name Bonobo, is a British musician, producer and DJ based in Los Angeles.
As with last year’s tour of The North Borders they once again displayed cleverly edited live versions of their studio tracks. Bonobo began producing without a band, and much of what you hear on his records is purely his own sampling and sequencing. On tracks like Kiara from the album Black Sands (which sparked the loudest crowd reaction of the night) for example, the recognisable string melody had to be replaced by the horn section; which went down just as well. Even though the band was promoting the latest album Migration, this track list delved much deeper into Green’s extensive back catalogue. Last time they visited Bristol it was almost exclusively music from The North Borders, which meant different musicians and singers were often coming and going. For this show they had to rely more on recordings, they also had vocalist Szjerdene Fox singing many of the other male and female parts.
Green took a moment to flex his musical muscles as the sun set over Bristol’s harbour side, the rest of the band was dismissed and he got stuck in. This was possibly the night’s strongest moment somehow, with the gigantic sound system having a chance to breathe; and giving the crowd fewer distractions. For everybody to witness how much work he puts in was very much needed. Everybody was in awe as he triggered samples and played keyboards, to create some of his best known hits.
When he was joined by the band it did lose some impact, as the humanized element was reintroduced. This is not a criticism of the band however, who were as always a joy to watch. The main drummer always steals the limelight, as he embellishes Bonobo’s prolific choice of complex rhythms. There were of course many laid back sections, but at times they struggled to keep the crowd’s attention with the more spacious songs. It felt as if the crowd would have been more receptive if the evening progressed towards some more up-beat arrangements. Regardless of it being a school night I am sure many bought their ticket to dance, but in reality there was a lot of people there to chat; so the softer pieces were perhaps a good match. The quiet beauty of Break Apart was backed by projections of footage used for it’s video, resulting in a blissful experience.
During the performance’s closing moments and the band’s encore however, something like the African inspired Bambro Koyo Ganda would have brought some contrast. Kerala made it onto the set list thankfully, but its broken beats lacked the same snap that they have on the album version. More of Migration’s finest tracks also made the cut, the pure beauty of Figures and Nick Murphy collaboration No Reason translated onto the stage easily; as did most of the more recent productions.
Simon Green and his band have once again proved themselves to be one of the world’s most exciting live acts. With just the right amount of material from classic albums such as Dial M For Monkey along with clever reinterpretations of more current work, this tour could be their best tour yet.
