It was a perfect summer night in New York City. No humidity, not too hot, a slight breeze, and brilliant moonlit sky. It was the perfect conditions for a night in the park. As part of Celebrate Brooklyn's annual free concerts in Prospect Park, alternative hip-hop supergroup Deltron 3030 performed a rare live concert with a full orchestra to help close out their current North American tour. The group, which released their latest record, The Event II, last fall, have been on-and-off the road for the last few months and Deltron fans know that if they are touring now, who knows when they could tour or play again. So, it was no surprise that the Prospect Park Bandshell was jam packed with fans from all over the boroughs, as well as curious ears who wanted to see what was happening in their park that night.
As Kid Koala opened with a 20-minute set in full Koala Bear outfit, "I lost a bet. Now, I have to wear this for 100 shows," he said before spinning a vinyl only bangers set as the sun was setting. Koala got the crowd ready for his band members to arrive. As he ran to the wings to change, the Deltron Orchestra arrived on stage, did a quick tune as Koala, Dan the Automator, and Del the Funky Homosapian arrived on stage to transport Brooklyn to the year 3030. The futurist storylines of a hero named Deltron fighting off corporations in a post-Apocalyptic world may seem like something out of a Ridley Scott movie, but it came from the collective minds of Del, Koala, and Dan. Bringing their symphonic hip-hop to life, the audience was left flabbergasted as one's eyes and ears could not simply focus on one thing on stage. With the orchestra, Del rapping his head off, Dan conducting, and Koala simply destroying the turntables, all being done in front of trippy images projected on a screen behind the artists, it was full on sensory overload. With a healthy mix of songs from their classic 2000 debut and Event II, the 90-minute set was just too good to end.
As the history of Deltron 3030 is a precursor for Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn's Gorillaz, who in their early years, featured Del and Dan, it came as no surprise that the closing number would be Gorillaz breakthrough single, "Clint Eastwood," which clearly had everyone in attendance, fan or not, going crazy. It was a night that featured modern music at it's finest and featured something for everyone, which was enough to celebrate in Brooklyn on a perfect summer night.
