HOUSTON, January 31, 2014 — Met with a Houston audience sellout, Los Angeles-based rock band Dengue Fever transformed The Edward Rudge Allen III Education Center into a live music venue and dance hall. Chhom Nimol fronts the group with dazzling vocal waves that swept through every inch of the performance space. Dengue Fever was formed in 2001 after Ethan Holtzman (keyboard and organ) and brother Zac Holtzman (vocals and guitar) discovered Nimol in a Long Beach nightclub; she had previously built a successful career in Cambodia as a karaoke singer. Nimol’s vocal range is so strong it could easily be mistaken for a woodwind instrument. And, when backed by her American-born band mates, the two forge Dengue Fever’s signature brand of slow fused jazz that culminates into an infectious frenzy of explosive psychedelic, surf rock funk jam. This blast of pop rock energy only intensified during the band’s final numbers which took very little to entice fans who were more than eager to dance on stage near the pumping rhythm section of bassist Senon Williams, saxophone and flute player David Ralicke, and drummer Paul Smith.

Video