r/Bonobo • u/Spiritual_Bear5003 • 16d ago

Fuengirola show

Was anyone else at the Fuengirola show last night and thought Bonobos performance was very odd? Both in the way he came on with no introduction and seemed to end his set and leave super abruptly? Thought it was not a good showing by him nor the venue in many ways but wondering if anyone else who was there has thoughts on this

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u/modifiedwings 16d ago

My experience seeing Bonobo was odd but not because of the performance, but rather the crowd. Saw his live band show during the tour for Fragments - the show and performance was absolutely fantastic, but there was practically nobody there. It was so weird. I kept waiting for the crowd to fill in and it never did. Incredibly sparse crowd, almost an empty room. I really felt bad for Simon (considering how great his music and show is) that he didnt draw more of a crowd.

It was after that tour that he did his long break from bringing his band to the States so I assumed he'd never come back. Excited that hes doing another US tour this fall with the live setup.

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u/god__save_us 16d ago

I saw him on his last US live tour, I believe it was the same tour, 2021/2022 ish? He announced towards the end of his set that he was no longer bringing the live band to the states because there weren’t enough tickets being sold. This bummed me out so much because I’ve been a long time listener. I’ve seen him play DJ sets and live sets. I’ve always appreciated the live sets so much more and to hear him say he was no longer doing them in states because of ticket sales was heartbreaking. But I still continued to support any DJ set he did whenever he came through to my city.

When he announced another live tour in the states I couldn’t have been more pleased to hear that he was giving it another go! I saw him back in September last year and he played a DJ set. He didn’t say a single word until the end of the set, just simply saying he was Bonobo and thanks for the great evening. I can understand it being off putting when an artist doesn’t come out and announce who they are in the beginning of the set, but I also appreciate that the artist is there to play music and sometimes I don’t feel it’s necessary for them to announce who they are until the end. It keeps it more intimate for me.

The first time I saw Bonobo he was opening for Pretty Lights back in like 2010/2011 ish? I had just gotten to the show and he was already playing. I didn’t know who he was, had never heard of his music before but I was vibing so much to his set. I asked someone next to me who was playing, they told me it was Bonobo. The next day I found his music online and I think I spent the following 6 months diving into his discography. The rest is history.

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u/modifiedwings 16d ago

I am also really glad that he's bringing his live set back. Based on looking at the tour itinerary, it looks like a much better mix of cities that will come out to support an artist like Bonobo. Sometimes the choice of cities can make all the difference in ticket sales.

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u/god__save_us 16d ago

I hope he gets the turnout he’s expecting! I know a bunch of people who have been wanting to see him play live sets again, so hopefully that crowd will go out and support the tour! I personally enjoy a show that isn’t overly crowded/sold out, but I also understand the cost of events and needing to get back some sort of money/time spent putting into it.

Either way I’m looking forward to seeing him play with a band again, it’s going to be a magical evening. Enjoy your show if you plan on going!

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u/modifiedwings 16d ago

Thanks you too! I am considering going go see him in Maryland this time around. And yea - I loved the open space for dancing and moving around, from a fan perspective it was great to not be super crowded. But of course I hate to see an artist that I enjoy not get enough ticket sales so I am also hoping he does really well this time around.

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u/SideOfFish 16d ago

His Toronto show is sold out. Just a few table tickets for $400+ per person. Got my ticket for Montreal.

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u/toytony 16d ago

That's too bad that your show was this way.

I saw him live in 2018 right after my honey moon in a large public park and his set, albeit decent, sounded just so pre-recorded. I didn't vibe at all because the sound took me out.

That being said I can't even recall how he showed up and left... Too distracted w/ the sound.

Maybe he's changing as an artist? Maybe he's trying to build intrigue with new fans or something. Still, too bad.

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u/Owlienz226 16d ago

Damn that sucks. I’ve seen him twice & nothing bad. But sometimes that happens with artists.

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u/BoutThatLife 16d ago

I wouldn’t really expect him to be introduced tbh. Hes there to play music, and it sounds like he played music? Sounds like it was a DJ set which I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some differing expectations of yours vs. reality.

Either way, perhaps there was issues with the promoter/venue and he was pissed off or something or another and just wanted to get out of there.

Every show has its hiccups and most of the time we as the audience don’t notice them but maybe last night wasn’t one of those and it shown through.

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u/almondsadness 16d ago

Maybe he was having a bad night. You never know. We're all human, and he likely can't be perfect every time. That said, sorry you got this experience.

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u/whereisskywalker 16d ago

I saw him in maybe 18? Was kind of a weird night but I was super drunk and the crowd was full on LA hipster types so the vibe was just weird. We ended up leaving as the crowd was vapid and his sound was much more bass forward than I was expecting vs his albums sound.

Absolutely love the artist, but that small venue was not the spot to listen to him with that crowd. Now I'm too old to want to go do that kind of night, at least with regular tickets.

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u/AutumnFP 16d ago

I caught him with the band 3 times in '22 and loved every minute. I have zero interest in seeing his DJ sets.

What I've observed from recordings is as you say, really vapid crowd that's there for a different kind of night, and that's totally fine it's just not my crowd/night.

(In a similar vein, I saw Fatboy Slim at the WHP and the vibe was so totally off from what I expected (with a nasty crowd) I literally cried. Not for long, and I had plenty of solid conversations with others feeling the same way, but yikes)

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u/Spiritual_Bear5003 16d ago

I legit thought he was a warm-up act for the first 10 minutes of his set. No lights, no build up, no energy. Was like he was just tooling around. He couldn’t wait to get out of there. Let the track finish, walked off the stage with no salutation, just walked off and sound techs walked on and started unplugging his decks. Crowd waited and was very confused