[Night Out] Big Black Delta @ Mercury Lounge 6/19/2013
image credit: @markb
Despite being well aware of this upcoming tour, somehow Big Black Delta's show at Mecury Lounge on Wednesday night completely caught me off guard in the best possible way. I wasn't ready to leave work and go directly to a show, I wasn't ready for the further-fleshed out lineup that lead singer Jonathan Bates was rocking, and I certainly wasn't ready for my heart to be won over by a couple of overly-enthusiastic BBD fans. The last time I had the pleasure of experiencing that which is Big Black Delta, they were a three-piece consisting of two drummers, which left Bates with singing, programming, and lighting duties. This time around there were a few addiitons to accompany the more complex sound featured on their recent self-titled "official" debut release, namely some guitars and a badass bassist.
Within the first couple of songs I happened to notice that someone near me clearly had not utilized all of the BO-supressing products that our fine society has to offer. In general, I find that to be pretty rude to subject other people to unpleasant smells, and this was no exception to that rule, at least at the beginning. Upon further examination, I discovered that the gentleman next to me, who slightly resembeled Zach Galifianakis, was the culprit of the foul odor I couldn't seem to escape up in the front. As I attempted to shoot him and his boyfriend a nasty glance, I realized that my fellow show-goer was in a current state of pure joy, dancing around and singing along as much as he possibly could with his boyfriend dancing at about 50% of his intensity. I've hit many a super jaded patch with regards to music, but the sight of this guy just letting loose for the remainder of the set took me back to a time where I wasn't being bombared with a ton of emails full of bands of the millisecond. Little by little his stench was the furthest thing from my mind. It clearly was refreshing for that level of excitement at a NYC for Bates because he couldn't help but point out how awesome the couple were while sporting a huge grin on his face. I feel like moments like that shouldn't have to be the exception in NYC. It would be nice if we all could ignore even the smelliest of distractions and just be able to let ourselves go, one set at a time.
I can't detail this experience without noting how worthy Big Black Delta was of the excited spazzing from the attendees I featured above. The band's performance was spot on. Even with the music being of an electronic nature, Bates and his band were really able to keep the sound from feeling overly digital and cold. My only complaint was that it was the early show that evening so they had to keep it short.
If you missed out on Big Black Delta on Wednesday, the band is playing at Glasslands tomorrow night (Saturday) with Joywave and Klaus. For more information on the show, head over to Glassland's website.
