Like any music, downtempo electronic is susceptible to redundancy. Beats can begin to sound the same. What was “groove” withers into “smooth.” At the Friday night, British DJ avoided this trap with a live band and an inventive mix of tempos. The capacity crowd rewarded the effort, dancing through most of the show and cheering even brief instrumental solos.
The band opened with “Cirrus” from this year’s “The North Borders” album. A mix of Balinese gamelan bell sounds contrasted with a steady beat and percussive accents. Rather than build to the “drop” so common in EDM songs, “Cirrus,” like much of Bonobo’s work, follows the path of the slow burn, gradually building tension that never fully releases.
Singer Szjerdene sauntered on stage for “Stay the Same” in a stunning white dress with black accents. The tempo slowed for a composition that would have been right at home in a smoky jazz lounge. Szjerdene gave a breathy and introspective melancholy to the lyrics, “Seasons change/ It’ll never be the same/ I’m hoping I won’t stay the same/ Feels so strange/ Why we always play these games.”
Simon Green, aka Bonobo, who has been an acclaimed musician since he was a teenager, alternated between bass and keyboards throughout the night when not behind the decks. Michael Lesirge engaged the crowd on saxophone, clarinet and flute. Drummer Jack Baker served as the band’s engine, powering through solos and deftly matching electronic beats. Toward show’s end, the band played without any electronic accompaniment. The soon-to-be-released single “First Fires” proved to be the only song that didn’t sound better live than recorded. “Kong,” from 2010’s “Black Sands,” had almost everyone in the theater dancing along to the beats Green served up and Baker augmented.
Openers El Ten Eleven set a high standard for the night. The L.A. duo delivered a blistering set, as guitarist/bassist Kristian Dunn played off of tasty live loops and drummer Tim Fogarty worked his kit furiously.
But the night and the crowd belonged to Bonobo. After the 90-minute set wrapped, the audience cheered the band back for “Keeper” and “Pieces,” and only seemed to relent after Green announced he’d be back again this summer.
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Denver-based writer Sam DeLeo is a published poet, has seen two of his plays produced and recently completed his novel, “As We Used to Sing.” His selected work can be read at .
Nathan Iverson is a Denver photographer and regular contributor to Reverb.
