Bonobo at Central Park Summerstage (July 13, 2014)

Editors Note: All photos by Anthony Bauer

One of the many great things about New York City is the summertime. For concertgoers especially, summer is an amazing time due to in part of the great events the city continuously puts on through the Summerstage concert series. Whether its Central Park or Brooklyn (or anywhere in between), all of the events are a can’t miss event as many of them are free!

On Sunday July 13th, it was no exception. Before Bonobo & his live band came out and took the stage, we were treated to the opening acts of Odesza as well as Cibo Matto. It was my first time seeing Odesza live and I can definitely see why Simon had brought them along. They were a perfect fit as an opener and I can only see them getting bigger in popularity within the next few years.

Next up, Cibo Matto came out and took no time into getting into the groove of things. This was my second time seeing them live and they were just as good, if not better, from when I saw them a few years back when they opened for Wilco at Terminal 5. They breezed through their set with ease and got the crowd grooving along from start to finish. Almost immediately after their set was up, one of the Summerstage PA’s came out to say they were monitoring the weather due to severe storms being in the area. There was a slight chance that a strong storm could roll through, and if it did, it would mean a short set for Bonobo.

Luckily, the weather held up and we were treated with a perfect night (albeit a little muggy) with no rain whatsoever. As it was being described and noted all over social media, this was Bonobo’s last US stop on the tour backing The North Borders, so expectations were high to say the least. I’m glad to report that the show most certainly lived up to the hype.

Bonobo took the stage and opened up his set solo with “Cirrus,” the lead single off the most recent album, The North Borders. From there, the song continued to build and each member of the band came out to add their sound into the mix of things. A few songs in and the whole band was there backing Simon and sounding practically perfect. One of the standouts from the show included an absolutely stunningly beautiful version of the lead track off The North Borders, “First Fires”, featuring Grey Reverend. The album version includes drums and bass, while the version they performed was acoustic, raw, and almost more powerful without the additional drums & bass. It was something I wasn’t expecting to hear, but was glad I did.

Along with Reverend, the show also featured guest singers from both the current album as well as the previous album, Black Sands. Singer Andreya Triana came out to perform the album’s standouts, “The Keeper” and “Stay The Same”, while Szjerdene performed “Towers,” “Transits,” and “Pieces”, off the most recent album. We were also treated to a brand new song, which Green told the crowd “That’s a new thing, its called “Flash Lights.”” It sounded amazing and if its any indication of what the rest of his new material or next album will sound like, we’re all in for a treat.

While the show as the last of the US tour supporting The North Borders, the tour overall still continues on (just not in the US). If you’ve missed his live show backing the recent album, don’t fret – it was recently announced that in October will bring the release of a brand new live album aptly titled, The North Borders – Live.

Thank you Central Park Summerstage for an amazing absolutely beautiful evening.

Editors Note: All photos by Anthony Bauer