Delta Spirit
The Observatory
6/3/12
In the land of high-water, skin tight jeans, TOMS shoes and beanies, the Long Beach-based band Delta Spirit seems to break through audience fashion barriers as well as my ear drums to deliver a sound with some serious weight behind it. They showcased their blistering energy on Sunday and brought hipsters out from the Lab, as well as various coffee shops and book stores, to The Observatory in Santa Ana.
Delta Spirit combines homemade sounds from items such as trashcan lids and electronic glitch and ambiance to create upbeat tracks like “Tear it Up.” Most of the tracks for the evening were from their self-titled album Delta Spirit, however towards the end of the show, the band slowed their dance-like pace with “Devil Knows You're Dead” from their 2011 album History from Below.
Lead Vocalist Matt Vasquez hurled his unrelenting fervor and throat-grabbing vocals into the crowd like a bomb, or in this case, their track “Time Bomb.” His animated and gritty Springsteen-like voice ads character to each track and you can't help but notice his crazy facial expressions. Though at times, he looks possessed, you can't help but like the guy's crazy character. Whether he was bouncing to all sides of the stage, head-banging on top of scaffolding or engaging in an old-fashioned crowd surf, Vasquez's energy never faltered.
]
The band concluded with their most popular track “California” which seemed to have everyone in the house on the edge of their TOMS shoes. Though I don't wear scarfs in warm climates or sport the faux Buddy Holly glasses, Delta Spirit put on the most amazing live show I have seen since And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead.
Critical Bias: Guys that bare their emotions in every song turns me off.
The Crowd: As if I didn't exacerbate the obvious fashion distinctions, hipsters abound.
Overheard in the crowd: “I got these glasses at a garage sale.”
Random Notebook Dump: Some hipster guy who was wearing a scarf and flannel vented to me all night about his ex-girlfriend.
Setlist:
Empty House
White Table
Strange Vine
Tear it Up
Idaho
Parade
Tellin the Mind
Time Bomb
House Built for Two
Bushwick Blues
People C'mon
Yamaha
Children
California
Encore:
Devil Knows You're Dead
Money Saves
Trashcan
Follow us on Twitter @OCWeeklyMusic and like us on Facebook at Heard Mentality
One Reply to “Delta Spirit-The Observatory-6/3/12”