Diggin' Dungen

For the second time in a week, Seattlest found ourselves enjoying some live music, even though we didn't have a clue as to what the songs meant. Last Wednesday it was Sigur Ros, and yesterday it was Dungen (pronounced "doon-yun"), a Swedish band that plays what everybody's terming "folkrockpsych" due to its decidedly '70s throwback feel. Hipsters and hippies alike have been drooling over this album for a while now, which the diverse crowd at Neumo's reflected completely. The mostly male audience was full of white belts *and* dreadlocks, as well as a smattering of old dudes and music nerds who just wanted to hear some hardcore jamming. They would not go home disappointed.

[Before we get to the actual review of the show, a not-so-brief aside on Neumo's current entrance policy, which smacks of retardening: When we were at the KEXP show on Saturday and they gave us a wristband instead of the traditional hand stamp, we thought it was a fluke, a one-off, just a KEXP-related thing. But when we got to the show last night, there was a long line waiting to get in. What was the hold up, we wondered, was the entire line composed of people buying tickets at the door? No, as it turned out, it was the entrance line leading to the ticket window---which you had to go to whether you had purchased tickets already or not---to get your ticket ripped and to receive a blue wristband. Then you were sent inside to where tickets are normally taken just to show some guy that you did in fact have a paper bracelet on your wrist. Because last night's event was an all-ages-in-the-balcony show, in order to get on the floor, you had to show your ID at the foot of the stairs, after which you received, that's right, another wristband. We know that with the Bad Juju now occupying the back of Neumo's, there's the need to keep bar customers (those wily drunks) from sneaking into the club, but last night's approach was inefficient, inconvenient, and a total hassle for both Neumo's patrons and staff. Frankly, there's gotta be a better way.]

As to the show itself, Mia Doi Todd was the opening act. While her voice is lovely, it's hard for us to get too excited by a girl with an acoustic guitar. So we were glad when Dungen took the stage, comprised of singer/multi-instrumentalist Gustav Ejstes and his backing band. They began by tearing through Ta Det Lungt's title track and another one ("Bortglomd") from that album. Then Ejstes broke out the flute. As if prophesied by Pitchfork, their third song ended in a drawn-out fifteen-minute breakdown, from which Dungen made sure to bring it on back. The rest of the set maintained that pattern: trippy, feel-good, pop-infused rock (see "Panda"), followed by some serious psychedelic freak-outs. Ejstes trilled in Swedish, tossed about his beautiful mane of Robert Plant hair, and kept the crowd rapt, whether he was playing the aforementioned flute, guitar, tambourine, or keyboards. As an added bonus, it was the guitarist's birthday, so mid-show they brought out a little cake and the crowd all sang "Happy Birthday." Dungen's set was short, and when Ejstes announced it was the last song not even an hour into it, we were feeling kinda gypped. But of course, following that song was yet another extended jam, which kinda made up for things. Goddamn Swedish hippies, we'd hate you if you weren't so frigging talented.

Photo care of divestar.org.