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Schedule

Friday, September 1, 2023
8 p.m. Performance

This Labor Day weekend, join Asia Society Texas as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Miller Outdoor Theatre with a night of incredible music by stand-out artists, including Luna Li’s gorgeous indie rock dreamscapes and Dengue Fever’s electric update of Cambodian psych-rock.

“Luna Li’s debut album, Duality, is a gorgeous pop anthem that introduces a potential dominant name in the lo-fi, DIY pop game. Bringing in sounds from sub genres including psychedelic pop, bedroom pop, indie pop, and art pop, Luna has crafted the perfect album to throw on during a rainy night drive.” Nick Allen, Still Listening

“[Dengue Fever’s music]...is like being transported through a steamy, humid time warp where Haight-Ashbury was a swinging suburb of Phnom Penh in the ’60s as oscillating Farsifa and fuzztone guitar languidly drift under and around Chhom Nimol’s beautifully hypnotic vocals.” Alan Brown, PopMatters

Please note that this program takes place off-site at Miller Outdoor Theatre, 6000 Hermann Park Drive. Please visit Miller Outdoor Theatre's website to acquire tickets. All performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre are free of charge.

About the Artists

Luna Li is more than a musical project. It's a world unto itself, and a kingdom of its creator's making. For the Korean-Canadian, Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist songwriter, composer, and producer Hannah Bussiere Kim, the universe of Luna Li is hyperlush and inclusive by design. It's an evolving, musical transmission that takes its cues from nature's healing properties to explore vulnerability and identity. A blend of indie rock and psych; where experimental neoclassical morphs into pristine pop, Luna Li is the sound of an everyday symphony, crafted from the perspective of the female gaze. Luna Li has been covered by Fashion, Paper Magazine, i-D, opened for Japanese Breakfast, performed on the main stage of 88rising's "Head In The Clouds" festival, and in 2022 was selected as one of NME's Top 100 Emerging Artists. Luna Li's debut record Duality (featuring Jay Som, Dreamer Isioma, and beabadoobee) wrestles with intimate, otherworldly questions to the ground in order to better understand the collective.

Dengue Fever are recognized for their trademark blend of 60s Cambodian pop and psychedelic rock. The band’s roots began in the late 1990’s with a 6-month trek through Southeast Asia by keyboardist Ethan Holtzman. Returning to Los Angeles with a suitcase crammed full of Cambodian cassette tapes, Holtzman and his brother Zac, who had discovered the same music while working at a record store in San Francisco, reunited. In 2002 they founded the band with saxophonist David Ralicke (Beck/Brazzaville), drummer Paul Dreux Smith, and bassist Senon Williams (Radar Brothers). After a short period of musical courtship that began at a Cambodian nightclub in Long Beach, CA, singer Chhom Nimol joined the band when she realized the guys shared a genuine passion for the music and culture of her homeland.

That passion is a cross-pollination of Khmer rock, garage rock, psychedelic rock and the British Invasion sound that has pushed the band to heights they could only dream of in 2002. Dengue Fever as performed in front of thousands of fans at such noted music festivals as WOMAD (UK, AUS, NZ), WOMEX (Spain), Melbourne Festival (AUS), Glastonbury (UK), Bumerbshoot, (USA), Transmusicales (France), Roskilde (Denmark), Electric Picnic (Ireland), Peace and Love (Sweden), and Treasure Island (USA). Their songs have appeared in films such as City of Ghosts, Jim Jarmusch’s, Broken Flowers, The Hangover 2, the Showtime series, Weeds, the HBO’s hit series True Blood (who named an entire episode after one of their songs).

Performing Arts and Culture programs at Asia Society Texas are presented by Syamal and Susmita Poddar. Major support comes from Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, The Brown Foundation, Inc., and Houston Endowment Inc. Generous funding also provided by The Anchorage Foundation of Texas, The Clayton Fund, and The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts. Additional support provided by the Texas Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and through contributions from the Friends of Asia Society, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing exceptional programming and exhibitions to Asia Society Texas.

Performing Arts and Culture Presenting Sponsors

Syamal and Susmita Poddar

Performing Arts and Culture Program Sponsors

Program Partner

About Asia Society Texas

Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.