When I arrived at the Doug Fir Lounge, I began to worry that Thao Nguyen wouldn’t get her due for the evening. My friends hadn’t had much difficulty buying tickets to the small, wood-lined venue and there was only a scattering of concertgoers strewn across the various tables and the bar in the back. While she’s still a relative newcomer to the indie scene, I had been pretty sure that Thao and the Get Down Stay Down would fill the space. Fortunately, I turned out to be right.
The first opener, David Schultz, turned out to be a solo guitarist who began his set by beating out percussion on the body of his cutaway acoustic guitar. He had a fine, clear voice, and while it’s generally lazy shorthand to compare any acoustic singer-songwriter with Bob Dylan, there was a certain twang to Schultz’s voice that made the comparison inevitable. As it turned out, the highlight of his set was a cover of Paul Simon’s “Graceland,” ably backed up by the Get Down Stay Down.
In fact, Thao’s backing band supporting Schultz turned out to be the order of the evening, as the various musicians there that night seemed to take turns adding their skills and sounds to the other. Second opening act, Portland’s own Weinland, was introduced by a member of the Portland Cello Project, and burst into a set liberally peppered with in-between song banter and exhortations for the crowd to get as noisy as possible. In fact, lead singer Adam Shearer claimed the cheering was so the band could post the applause on YouTube and feel good about themselves- considering the goodwill they seemed to have with the Doug Fir crowd, I don’t think they have to worry about it. They slid through a number of their songs including “People Like You” (in which their largely silent keyboard player seemed to rock out spastically by himself) and finally “It’s Already Time.” The band augmented their own traditional rock set-up with accordion and Shearer’s strangely husky, hushed vocals, but especially with lap steel guitar; unlike so many bands that seem to treat the instrument as a go-to for a roots sound, its silvery sound was sparing and subtle in nearly every song.
The headliners took to the stage wordlessly, to the PA blaring “The Clap” from their new album Know Better Learn Faster. Diminutive as she is, Thao has presence- her frantic strumming, jerky stomping and hair-whipping lend her an energy hardly needed by her kittenish voice, which is as fine live as on record. The first few songs, including “Easy,” a dance-ready cut, and “Geography,” were unfortunately marred by a green-shirted, frost-tipped fellow I had already noted as Douchebag of The Night, frantically beckoning to the crowd and tossing back drinks directly in front of Thao. Dude, if you’re going to draw all the attention in a room towards yourself, maybe don’t do it immediately before the lead singer. Of course, you know that now that you’ve been kicked out for it.
The energy didn’t abate after that, but the show certainly got more relaxed. At one point, Thao remarked to the crowd that she’d never seen so many people grinding on one another in Portland. Not that that’d be all that difficult, of course. Despite the town’s notorious reticence to get its collective ass shaking, the room was moving as Thao and her band burst through their songs. “When We Swam” was sexy in a way that didn’t quite fit on the record, Thao’s girlish sensuality imparting a definite flair to lyrics like “Oh oh bring your hips/ Open your hips to me.” The mewling rocker “Body” was another hit, with Willis Thompson’s heavy drumbeat adding a menace to the constant question of “What am I/ Just a body to your bag?“
In between songs, Thao delivered an amusing anecdote regarding being mistaken for an employee at a local Asian café; that’s right, we’re mostly crackers here in Portland and apparently not very good at differentiating things. It might come off as confrontational, but the singer’s clear playfulness resonated as clearly in her story as it did in the two-part drum solo between her and Thompson. Mid-song, she stepped to the other side of his kit and began playing along with on the same drums and cymbals. Even her encore was playful, beginning with a quick beatboxed intro and a single verse of Salt-n-Pepa’s “Push It.” I left the Doug Fir as pleased with any show I’d seen in a long time- and for once, glad that the venue was at capacity.
by Nathan Kamal
[Photos: Nicholas Crumrine]
