Live music review: Bonobo, Vicar Street, Dublin

As ‘Bonobo’, DJ, producer and soundtrack composer Simon Green has spent his career exploring the esoteric hinterlands of electronic music. From arms-in-the-air mayhem to ambient collages, the self-effacing Englishman embraces a multitude of identities and there were moments during his sold out Vicar Street concert when he seemed to be working through a very mild crisis of identity.

Was he here to blast away the cobwebs with repackaged rave beats? Or was his true calling as conjurer of balmy 21st century trip-hop? The answer was never clear and it made for an intriguing muddle. Cuts from this year’s Migrations LP featured sax player, guitarist and boisterous rhythm section, with guest vocalist Szjerdene Mulcare evoking the glad-to-be-glum spirit of Massive Attack and Portishead on ‘7th Sevens’ and ‘Break Apart’.