Flush with tales of lost baggage, sweaty clothes, a man trying to get on board the flight with a bag full of plucked chicken carcasses, a hankering for Irish whiskey, broken drumsticks, and being the ugly geek in gym class, Thao were not short of between-songs banter on Sunday evening. Indeed, perhaps with the relief of getting there at all, the three-piece band did not hold back from putting on a lively show for the relatively sparse crowd that attended. Fortunately, while those intelligent and beautiful enough to turn up might not have known all of the words to the songs, they were prepared to join in the various rounds of rhythm clapping and generally make the band feel at home in the intimate venue.
The bluesy folk-style band is led by Thao Nguyen, who is of Vietnamese ethnicity, but hails from Virginia, USA. Thao plays acoustic lead guitar, Her style is to have her eyes screwed shut, to bop frenetically as she plays, and to go from singing softly to suddenly yelping (in tune!). She also uses a toothbrush on one song to strum the guitar with. One can only guess that this might have been an improvisation given their lost luggage!
Indeed, I do prefer hearing Thao live than to recorded. It is not that the latter is disappointing, rather that hearing her singing naturally gives the songs far more vitality. Moreover, the overall sound is louder and chunkier. It worked well.
Highlight song on the night was comfortably a nicely juiced up version of Bag of Hammers from their second album We Brave Bee Stings and All. However, pre-encore closer, Fear and Convenience, with its mostly instrumental conclusion was also quite engaging. Other songs that I liked on the night were Big Kid Table, Violet, and the final song Yes, So On and So On.
As things stand, Thao make for an enjoyable evening’s entertainment. At the same time, they probably do not have enough “big songs” yet to help them build their audience up. However, go here to stream some of their songs and see what you think yourself!
P.S. Journalist Sinead Gleeson has recently posted a guest blog from Thao as part of her innovative Musical Rooms series.
P.P.S. Thao were supported by Paul Hourican. I have been listening a fair bit to his debut album, so more about him tomorrow!
