End of the Road- The Bonobo North Borders Tour Concludes
As the bells of Cirrus rang out within the giant space of Alexandra Palace, they signalled the beginning of the end. In April 2013, Bonobo embarked on an enormous world tour, performing to 2 million fans at 175 shows across 30 countries and on the 28th November 2014, it all ended here in London at Alexandra Palace. Even though for his finale show Bonobo proves himself to be about as far away from an exhibitionist performer as you could possibly imagine, it doesn’t matter; he lets the music speak for itself.
His artfully crafted show perfectly blends sample-based electronic music with orchestral elements, glued together by rib-tickling bass and tasteful drums. The result is an epic reworking of the down-tempo electronic music from his latest album, North Borders, with all of the standout tracks of his previous release, Black Sands, also carefully interwoven. His band is nothing short of impressive; not least in size (brass, woodwind and a large string section all help bring the tracks to life) but the musicianship of each player is just what the doctor ordered.
Every song was a hit with the crowd but of course, there were some extra special moments. Recurring, in all its dreamy sublimity, shook the room with the arrival of some brilliant moments of booming bass and luscious soundscapes before giving way to the opening riff of We Could Forever, which electrified the giant hall.
The show was punctuated midway by a pounding drum solo, followed by an artfully restrained saxophone solo that was thickened by delay and modulation effects before veering into dubstep territory to add an unexpected intensity to the show.
Other standout tracks of the night, Emkay and Know You, rightfully took their places as the biggest crowd-pleasers (and crowd-movers) of the night, along with Kiara, which seems to just sit in a league of its own when it comes to the best of Bonobo’s back catalogue.
However, this show wasn’t all about getting lost in the pulsing grooves of his more ‘danceable’ tracks. Bonobo captivated the crowd with his more down-tempo and contemplative material with the appearance of every vocalist featured on North Borders (minus Erykah Badu).
Sadly, the set ended with too many of these chilled out, down-tempo numbers and it seemed a shame that the intensity of such a phenomenal show was left to dwindle in its final stages. One would hope that the last show of such an epic tour should have gone out with a much bigger bang. It’s difficult to stay disappointed though, since the rest of the show was so impressive.
It was undoubtedly a real treat for any Bonobo fans, whether new or die-hard and is an experience we can all relive again and again thanks to Boiler Room’s footage, currently playing on a loop.
Now that the tour has finished, it feels like the end of an era – regardless of however many times we watch the footage – but it also feels as if this is just the start of something amazing and that, in the story of Bonobo, there are many more chapters to come.
There can be no doubt that we are yet to hear a lot more of Bonobo in the future as he rises within the ranks of the world’s most respected electronic producers and musicians. If he’s able to keep up the same kind of standard displayed at Alexandra Palace, then bring on the next chapter and long may the journey of Bonobo continue.
Walloh would like to give a special thanks to David Corti at September Industry for the use of his photos.
Nick Vaughn
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