BONOBO (Live)
I miss the old Bonobo
I miss the old Bonobo, straight from the ‘Go Bonobo, Chop up the soul Bonobo, set on his goals Bonobo, I hate the new Bonobo, the bad mood Bonobo, The always rude Bonobo, spaz in the news Bonobo, I miss the sweet Kanye, chop up the beats Kanye…er Bonobo’. Maybe I shouldn’t be this dramatic, but this is how I felt at times during Bonobo’s early evening White Stage set.
I fell in love with Bonobo during his downtempo, trip hop pioneer days of the early 2000’s. Through albums like ‘Animal Magic’, Dial ‘M’ for Monkey’, ‘Days to Come’ in addition to his remix albums, EPs, and live sets I was transported to a world of exciting, fresh, jazzy, soulful music. Of late I have still followed Bonobo’s productivity. His progression into more serious and mature downtempo and electronic music is impressive. I just wish he wouldn’t abandon the old Bonobo completely during live shows.
Perhaps the hour long set time was a bit short for Simon Green, aka Bonobo, to dive too far back into his back catalog, but I kept wishing he would throw a few classics in the mix for some of old heads in the crowd like myself. Perhaps I’d do better catching his solo tour or listening to one of his DJ sets in order to come away a bit more satisfied.
With all that said, Bonobo’s hour long, White Stage set on Sunday at Fuji, was quite good and showed how far Simon has come as a musician. Bonobo came out on a mixer and a midi controller, with a bass guitar around his neck and a couple of drum sticks in his hands. He was also joined throughout the set by a sax player, another guitarist and a vocalist. It’s the most involved I’ve seen Bonobo, in the few times I’ve seen him play live. I guess that’s why they include the words live when promoting the set, there is a lot that happens and needs to happen, well, live during his live set.
The set is technically a clear step up from his Nu-Jazz days, playing DJ sets or performing with a small group of jazz musicians. So, while I may have more of an inclination to his older, jazz infused sound, this new era of Bonobo with expertly produced electronic and downtempo has found the artist receiving praise and success both from critics and fans.
The set was a slow burning, twilight inducing, future leaning downtempo gem. Just because the set focused on Bonobo’s new material, mainly his newest album, 2017’s Migration, doesn’t mean it wasn’t a success. I do miss the old Bonobo and perhaps I’ll need to see his one man show to experience a taste of it again. However, the more I think about it, the more I think the new Bonobo, much like the new Kanye, deserves the critical praise he’s receiving for progressing and doing something new, in a genre where he could have stayed the same and played it safe.
For those in Japan, make note Bonobo will be returning early next year for a solo tour. The set time is sure to be longer than the one hour given here at Fuji Rock, hopefully for the heads, the old Bonobo will make a few appearances next time.
