Walking down Hackney road past a bunch of dubiously named kebab shops with some very suspect donner meat, I was eventually met by a bouncer on the corner who guided me down a side-street to the 2932 Warehouse. The inconspicuous venue from the outside looked nothing more than a dingy warehouse, and thankfully inside it was nothing more than just that; a warehouse good for nothing more than a rave. A massive sheet of thick fabric was hung three quarters of the way down the room soundproofing a relaxed space for some chairs for those who couldn’t take on the whopping 3 hours that Bonobo had to commandeer the decks. Separate to that a long bar ran the length of the room with toilets on the opposite side, what more could you need?
The night was strictly sold out and I expected to experience more of London’s congestion but the warehouse was abundant with space, sound and energetic dance moves. Raffertie warmed up and his set was eclectic more than anything else, some fairly industrial techno eventually took an old-school turn and the crowd really flew into motion. Some classic Prodigy was dropped before his last tune of The Outhere Brother’s Boom Boom Boom. I joked with my friend that I expected things a little more chilled as I’d imagined Bonobo opening with Prelude/Kiara and playing something more progressive with all the time he had.
So Boom Boom Boom had it’s time and Bonobo stepped up to a hysteric room. The room’s dreams were met as he did in fact completely switch the vibe to Kiara’s beautiful Prelude. The energy in the room made it clear that everyone there knew their Bonobo, and it was great to see a room blow up to more relaxed tunes like The Keeper and Eyesdown. Pretty much every other tune over the first hour was one of his own, selections mainly from Black Sands and Days to Come were complimented with everything from two-step and dubstep to house, techno and Brazilian carnival beats.
It was one of those special sets where every break in a tune was met with applause and a cheeky smile from the talented Mr Si Green. The three hours proved to be amongst the shortest three of my life as I was shown that Bonobo is as masterful behind the decks as he is in the studio. For the time he had everything was consistently fresh and tastefully mixed.
Equal props need to be given to Soundcrash, another fine booking went off without a hitch even in a converted warehouse. Let’s hope they get Bonobo back for another long set, an all-nighter definitely wouldn’t go amiss.
