Kevin Bronson on April 17th, 2011

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Who: Delta Spirit at the Outdoor Theatre
In 3 or Fewer Words: Sunburned, and cooking.
I’ll Remember This Until: That vicious Indio sun collapses or melts and fuses a few more synapses of mine. Underneath the brutal – just brutal – heat of the glaring afternoon sun, Long Beach’s Delta Spirit admirably burned as if it were midnight in some L.A. club, kicking off their high-energy set with the sledgehammer swagger of “Bushwick Blues,” all earthy Americana fused with a flashy arena pummel. As frontman Matthew Vasquez tossed bottle after bottle of water into the U.V.-shaken crowd, so too did the band hurl song after song of the band’s inimitable blend of blue jeans rock ’n’ roll into the increasingly responsive audience, turning in the exact type of high-energy performance that one comes to a festival like Coachella to see, and makes the best-of reels on a Coachella DVD.  This is why you don’t nap away the hot afternoons here in Indio.
What I’d Tell My Friends Who Were Watching the Radio Dept.: Hey, Radio Dept. are amazing, but this is the rock ”˜n roll that makes daytime summer festivals bearable.
– Travis Woods
Photo by Scott Dudelson