Bonobo, the musical alter-ego of one Simon Green, has been putting out chilled hip-hop tinged music for a few years, and has made a home of Ninja Tunes for his last two albums. Tonight was an opportunity for Green to show if a live band would or could make a party of what is often considered post-party music.

The evening was DJed by Rob Luis between sets, who by being invisible to the crowd lost some impact, but played a neat selection of classic hip-hop and house-y numbers. Following Luis came Kid Kanevil, who came on to play an open, friendly, old school set, with decks, percussion, flute and two MCs, Tempest and Yarah Bravo.

They were ultimately hamstrung by the difficulty of getting a party flowing when the audience, although apparently happy to listen, refused to get involved. Trying all the tricks, even to the point of explaining how to move our hands in a suitable motion, fell on deaf ears, as the outfit tried not to get disheartened by a crowd filled with sedentary young professionals.

After a second interlude by Rob Luis, Bonobo took to the stage in force, with a nine-piece band round him, and so the odds seemed high that Bonobo would make for a big sound and push the crowd’s dancefloor credentials.
Alas, it was not to be.

The overwhelming impression was of how tasteful it all was. The tempo was largely constant, and the playing polite. The crowd moved a bit more for the headliners, but largely remained contained as Bonobo strolled through his set. The sense that Green’s musical radar was more sensitive to shoegazing and cerebral indie was reinforced by some perfectly nice guitar leads, but this just sapped momentum as Bonobo reclaimed urban music for nice people who just want a dance round their laptop bags.

Richard Davie
pic: Kevin Wong