Dengue Fever/Chicha Libre - State Theater - April 17 2009

Chicha Libre - LA buddies of the headliner, the band comes in with a similar polyglot of nationalities and/or styles in its music. Featuring guitars, electric upright bass, two percussionists and an accordion, it stressed more rhythms and guitar textures to go with its steady vocals. A nice cover of "Alone Again or" reminded me of seeing Love on this very stage a few years back. Quirky Westernized salsa world beat for the most part (oh yeah, that). Good band, nice set received respectfully by another laid back State Theater audience.

Dengue Fever - This band has been a favorite of mine since the early days and I was pleased to hear them playing cuts from their first lp such as my all-time favorite "New Years Eve". Gorgeous Cambodian singing courtesy of Chhom Nimol, great soft-psyche organ, guitar with tasteful effects, and great rhythm made for an invigorating enjoyable set. The crowd slowly moved forward and moved more and by the end had a great time. The venue was a little too big for where Dengue Fever is right now, but they are steadily growing and more people will be joining the bandwagon as they move on. Excellent band, highly recommended.

Quote of the Night: "This song's called Shave Your Beard" said by the guitarist who has a beard that looks about as long as Billy Gibbons' beard. Ok, simple laugh line, but good enough for me in a relatively quiet night--even the long metro rides were amazingly tame for Friday night.