LIVE: Deluka @ The Egg, 4/22/11

The indie-rock band Deluka is no stranger to the area having recently played Jillian’s, but performing at The Egg’s intimate Swyer Theater was a whole different ballgame for them.

Having been invited by the Bethlehem Central High School to headline a benefit concert for the American Diabetes Association and the American Red Cross’ Japan Relief Effort, Deluka was preceded by five opening acts made up of the high school’s teenage singers and bands.

When the time came for Deluka to perform last Friday night, the stage was set and ready to go. In the total darkness, drummer Stevie J. Palmer slid into the drum chair and picked up his sticks. Moments later, three silhouettes appeared behind the microphones as the stage lights began to cut through the darkness.

Lead singer and guitarist Ellie Innocenti slammed her pick into the strings with lead guitarist Kris Kovacs and bassist Robbie G following suit. Innocenti’s expressive vocals brought to mind a youthful Debbie Harry fronting Blondie several decades ago.

Deluka’s hour-long set – complete with young fans circling and dancing around the stage – was a hearty assortment of original, neo-new wave rock culled from their debut release, “You Are The Night.” In tribal fashion, the Birmingham, UK-by-way-of-Brooklyn quartet rocked, pranced, bopped their heads and hit those power chords like there was no tomorrow.

Review and photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk