There was a moment at the beginning of Dengue Fever's performance Saturday night where the movie the band was scoring, 1925's
The Lost World, kind of faded into the background and all we could concentrate on was how their music was filling the space like warm water in a bathtub. We usually complain about the muddy sound at Warehouse Live, and with the exception of Ludo's music seeping through the walls during the film's more somber moments (they were playing in the room next door), this was the best we've ever heard the venue sound.
The band played facing the screen and were almost invisible. The movie itself was very entertaining (in spite of a character in blackface) and some of the most powerful moments of Dengue Fever's performance came during stop-motion animated scenes of dinosaurs fighting, or when a wayward brontosaurus terrorized the streets of London.
The band made use of the old soundtrack trick of leitmotifs, and Aftermath mused at how a band with a sound so spacey and futuristic could compliment so well a movie that old. One of our companions compared the score to Pink Floyd in its grandness.
But the absolute best moment for us was Chhom Nimol's first vocal performance, about a third of the way into the film. The video above does not in any way do her justice. Her Khmer vocals were so haunting at first listen it literally brought tears to our eyes - pretty amazing, considering Saturday was only the second time the band has played this score in front of an audience.
Since Saturday's performance was a one-off, you might not get the chance to hear this music live again, but the band hopes to record an album featuring the score sometime soon.