The Wily Filipino

Dengue Fever, 12 Galaxies, SF, 3/11/06.

Somehow I managed to wriggle myself into the fifth row of Dengue Fever's concert last night. This was after I a) had abandoned friends up in the mezzanine, who had thought it was going to be too cramped, and b) was abandoned by other friends (including Special K) who were simply too wasted to make it through a set that didn't begin until midnight. (This was the result of Laszlo plus that bar next door, where Barbara Boxer apparently gave a speech a few minutes before we arrived.)

So it's official: Dengue Fever is the coolest band in America. They got the "hit" out of the way first ("Ethanopium," a cover from the Ethiopiques series, which made it onto the Broken Flowers soundtrack), then proceeded to unspool a setlist from their two excellent albums (including "Lost in Laos," a rockin' "Sni Bong," "We Were Gonna," "Flowers," "Escape from Dragon House," "Made of Steam," "Shave Your Beard," and Ros Serey Sothea's "I'm Sixteen" for the encore). It would be pointless to argue that the band's charm didn't primarily come from Chhom Nimol's impressive vocal range (and stage presence), but that would be to discount the limber Farfisa, sax and surf guitar-fueled groove laid down by the band. Their album from last year, Escape from Dragon House, is an amazing, heady, utterly unique swirl of music whose cultural influences are deliciously difficult to parse. In concert, Dengue Fever transforms that mix into a clear imperative: you have to dance.