Bonobo delivers an all day rave up at Tobacco Docks

Outlier 2016

Saturday 12th March 2016
Tobacco Dock, Wapping, Greater London, E1W 2SF , England MAP
£42.50

Daily capacity: 1,000

Bonobo's name isn't one that you'd usually associate with an all day rave up. In the past his music is more suited to a noon slot on the main stage of a festival to ease you back into proceedings. But as his name has grown and his music has diversified into a more rave leaning slant maybe it can work?

It's certainly helped by a carefully curated line-up of some of the most established names in electronica sitting alongside some of the most exciting young pretenders around at the moment. First up is someone who perhaps straddles the line somewhere in between those two categories. Trevino is perhaps better known under his Drum n Bass moniker Marcus Intalex but over the past few years he has been crafting a house-focused onslaught. The car park is a perfecting setting for this pulsating bass driven techno. It's a setting that makes it seem as if its about 4am in the morning even if its 12 hours before that. A set full of build-ups and tempo changes carefully ensuring that he doesn't go too balls out for those in attendance this early in the day. A set defined by ominous looseness sets us up perfectly but we need a change of tact from a dimly lit car park this early in the day.

Throwing Snow in the Gallery is a suitable change of pace, underpinned by percussion and rhythm throughout it spirals while maintaining a musical narrative throughout the entire set. A meticulously curated set that sets the tone for that time of day just before the big hitters are ready to take it up a notch.

Then its time for the main event in the Great Gallery as Bonobo takes to the stage for a DJ set. Bonobo cut his teeth as a DJ before cultivating the classic albums and live sets he is know known for and while it has its moments it's a little too loose a little too directionless to love. There is plenty of Bonobo's back catalogue intermingled between a host of music that does a pretty good job covering the landscape of what's working on UK dance floors in 2016. The crowd laps it up and it delivers in that regards. I maybe felt with a longer set that it could have been a bit more masterfully built up and layered but a minor gripe for something that thousands others loved.

It's the end of the night and there seems no more perfect venue than the groddy old car park at the bottom of Tobacco Dock. Sweat dripping from the walls and a packed to the brim venue for Special Request. Paul Woolford's bass driven DNB alter ego absolutely smashes it out of the park. A lesson in control as he builds the tempo and atmosphere just right for what's the highlight of a solid days raving. Here's to the next one and many more!

review by: Paul Mullin