Delorean: 7 July 2010 – Stuy Town Oval, New York

On the evening of Spain’s victory over Germany in the 2010 World Cup semi-finals, the small, Spanish band Delorean continued their take-over of New York City. An atypical oasis, the shady grove of Stuveysant Town’s Oval was the setting for the band’s free concert on the hot and steamy Wednesday. This event follows a show on 7/3 at PS1 and precedes a DJ set on 7/8, a sold out Bowery Ballroom show on 7/10 and another area performance on 8/29.

Delorean’s summery dance-rock sounds, as heard on recently released album Subiza, have earned them quite a bit of praise and was well-suited for the outdoor space. In so much as it was free and in a residential area, the show drew a crowd of all walks of life. People were sitting complacently on the grass, or so I had thought. A sizeable crowd turned up just before the start of the show, traipsing through those seated folks to stand front and center as appropriate.

Opening with “Seasun” off their 2009 EP, Delorean continued the party almost non-stop as if it was a DJ set. There were strange horn blasts in between songs but, as celebratory, vuvuzela-like expressions, they did not detract from the buoyant music. For a brief moment, I actually thought they had changed over to a DJ set when I caught a familiar groove (from Soul Vision’s “Come into my Room”) track, but Delorean didn’t drop the Everything But the Girl remix, they performed their own outsized dance song “Deli”. Though they wrapped up just a song or two later, Delorean likely left people’s feet happy and excited for a future go around.