Recap: Delta Spirit at 7th Street Entry

There is a happy weirdness to the cover art of Delta Spirit’s new full-length, Ode To Sunshine, a nostalgic photograph of the grotesquely grinning man raising a toast that is simultaneously joyful and a little creepy.

It’s a challenge to be sunshine in darkness, to make up your own mind, to keep the sparkle in your eye. Up-and-coming San Diego band Delta Spirit, supported by Other Lives and Dawes, showed the sold-out 7th Street Entry on Feb. 20 just how the kids are shining these days.

 

Dawes, a four-piece from Los Angeles—whose members recently all moved out of their apartments to go on tour, according to lead singer Taylor Goldsmith—opened the show with a warm smile. The country crooner-inflected rock was passionate, laid-back and inviting, like a good conversation at your favorite watering hole. There were several standout songs, including “Give Me Time,” a jukebox-ready burner that really kicked the sawdust off the floor, and the following “When My Time Comes,” whose debt to Thunder Road-era Springsteen in the pummeling bassline won cheers from the crowd. The writing was sharp, too, like this line from “When My Time Comes”: “You can judge the world by the sparkle you think it lacks / You can stare at the abyss but it’s staring right back.” These now-homeless troubadours weren’t lacking any sparkle and were a great example of a reason not to miss an opening act.

Following Dawes, quintet Other Lives from Stillwater, Okla., took the stage to carry on the energy for the crowd starting to pack the sold-out show. When the country-rock comes from Los Angeles, it makes a measure of sense that the proggy psychedelia comes from the heartland. Other Lives was not as immediately accessible as Dawes, but its layered instrumentation—guitars, drums, keys, cello, violin, voice—unlocked some beautiful melodies and its songs had soaring arcs and exploding catharses. Singer Jesse Tabish used his voice sparingly, swinging between declamations in the style of Bob Dylan’s “Masters Of War” and growling wails, while the band’s full sound recalled the orchestration of George Harrison and prog-piano/organ outfit Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Two for two on openers.

Then came the big show. Delta Spirit has been praised, among other things, for its live show, and much of that comes from the insistent, impassioned energy of frontman Matthew Vasquez. Jameson does a great turn as a roaring, joking frontman, some sort of hybrid between Big Bill Broonzy, Roy Orbison, and Julian Casablancas—it’s all American. The songs tear up with a dancefloor energy but carry the weight of honest, motivated lyrics. “House Built for Two,” which Vasquez said was written for his dad, is not a happy song, but one filled with estrangement, recrimination, and an earnest desire for connection. Vasquez was visibly moved after finishing. “People C’mon” and “People Turn Around” are, in essence, topical songs in vein of ’60s protests but don’t come down like some heavy hammer, nor as some postured concern—the tour was also accompanied by Invisible Children, a non-profit seeking to raise awareness of child soldiers in Uganda. Delta Spirit throws itself into making music—switching up instruments, using multiple drum kits, building percussive blasts that you can’t help but get swept along in its up-home blues. And when the show was done, Vasquez wasn’t ready to let it go, jumping into the crowd to start an impromptu dance party, with mixed success: Midwesterners are great listeners but not always full-contact participants. Still, the kids come together to dance, sing along, keep shining and sparkling together; the best reason to see live music.

Delta Spirit Set List
“Strange Vine”
“People C’mon”
“Streetwalker”
“House Built For Two”
“The Best”
“Bushwick Blues”
“Parade”
“Salt in the Wound”
“Vivian”
“St. Francis”
“Children”
“Tomorrow Goes Away”
“Trashcan”
“People Turn Around”
“Bleeding Bells”
“Crippler King”