Live Review: Bonobo

UK DJ Simon Green (aka Bonobo) took the stage for an early seven o'clock show (to be followed by another at 9.30pm), scheduled after demand and his dancecard allowed for a double header on a Monday night. That in itself isn't a bad achievement. For this, “technically our first show for 2014” following a festival round including Falls in the dying hours of 2013, Green and a band included a string quartet, horns, drums, multiple synths, guitar and other various bits and bobs, playing solidly for an eager crowd.

Now in his 14th year as Bonobo, the set covered a good range of material, and recent additions from his last feature The North Borders really shone. Led by vocalist Szjerdine, First Fires was particularly striking, as was the soaring Towers, while Cirrus was also a highlight. The shuffling of so many sounds and music makers live was itself impressive (and at times distracting when it came to picking what sound came from where), but being restricted clearly wasn't Green's concern. Proven, perhaps best, as he spent most of the night with more than one noise-maker at hand (decks, guitar, drum stick, pedals, or a combination of as many as his limbs would allow). Repeating how excited he was to be at the Opera House (“it was only a couple of years ago we played here first at the Metro, now look where we are”), the jazz-meets-dance fans even got their dessert with a couple of epic instrumentals (drums then sax). While there was something of a strangeness about so much atmos (and gentle if not stark darkness) that early on in the night, and the week, if you can pull it off there, then that's a good sign.