Dungen Is WAY RAD!
You should listen to their live set on KCRW while reading this.
Last night they returned to Los Angeles to rock the El Rey Theater. It was one of those rare times in LA where a band can play three ten minute jams and still hold a crowd. It’s the most beautiful mix of folk, rock, psychedelia, and the best swedish lyrics EVER.
The night began a little rough. I rolled by Jeremiah’s and had a brew before heading over. An hour later, as we came back to Bessy, the ice cream truck, and noticed some punks had tagged some weak shit all over the back in red spray paint. You can imagine how pissed we were. As we bitched the whole way over to the El Rey, Jeremiah mentioned, “Hey, if we try now, we might be able to get it off some how” Thank the lord for Goo Gone. After about 15 minutes we had ALL the paint off. Now we’re happier than we would have been if none of it would’ve happened in the first place. We rewarded ourselves with a Creamsicle then started walking.
It was a relaxed night at the El Rey, we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to bring in a cam and since there’s really not a good storage spot in the truck, we left it at home. Bummer, once inside I saw a kid with a camera and he said he didn’t have a problem getting it in. We’ll at least we had a little digi. We missed Mia Doi Todd, but got there just in time to score a spot right up front for Dungen (correctly pronounced doon-yen). I had my dancing shoes on and was ready to sing-along in my best interpretation of whatever Gustav was singing. They launched into one of the rockin tracks of Ta Tet Lugnt and the freaks were set loose. Then it was back and forth between beautiful Floyd influenced space rock and straight up rock and roll. The crowd was with them every step of the way. Groovin with upbeats and wishing they were on drugs (or more drugs) for the flashback jams. Either way it was amazing. You could tell the uninitated were being converted.
Gustav, the mastermind behind Dungen was all over the place. He was rockin his guitar so hard on the first track he busted a string. Next he was on to his tambourine, then the keys, then…..ah yeah, the trusty flute. At this point its just best to enjoy the light show from behind closed eyes. Even when the band was mellowing out, you could see he was thinking triple time and headbangin to anything with an ounce of funk in it. Instead of playing a traditional encore, they slowed down a bit after what they said would be their last track, got some applause, then railed into another 10 minute jam fest.
I ran outside, around the corner, and fired up Bessy, A couple minutes later I was parked right out front and giving away Creamsicles and a bunch of stickers. Rueben, who I met while slingin cream at Coachella, even brought his MOM. How cool is that? What a great drastic change from horrible night to a near perfect one. Hooked up as many people as I could then kicked down the valet guys and Jeremiah and I hoped in and headed back up Wilshire Blvd. As we were driving a car full of folks pulled up beside us and asked for ice cream. Hmmmm, first time for everything, we slowed to about 25 and Jeremiah popped open the freezer and did a very effective exchange. Not the smartest thing but what a great way to wrap up the night.
