Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Photo by Scott Newton / KLRU
Following in the Footsteps of longtime collaborator Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, Thao & the Get Down Stay Down finally made their debut performance at Austin City Limits on Thursday evening. Thao Nguyen confidently strode onstage in her decidedly Texas outfit of cowboy boots and a bright pink romper, which she later admitted she had ironed especially for her mother who skipped bingo night in order to watch the ACL live stream of the performance. The band is currently touring off their newest album, We the Common, released in spring of last year. The album represents Nguyen’s brief hiatus from touring and her time spent writing and living in San Francisco; the result is one of Nguyen’s most comprehensive works yet.
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Photo by Scott Newton / KLRU
With Nguyena at the helm, the band launches into their set with a track from We the Common, “City.” From the onset, the band’s energy is relentless and contagious. Thao & the Get Down Stay Down waste no time moving from track to track, playing each with an unbridled enthusiasm. For her part, Nguyen deftly moves through five different instruments in the first seven songs. She plays lead guitar through “City” and “The Feeling Kind,” and then to my delight, picks up the banjo to ease into “Holy Roller,” arguably her most popular track from the new album. “Holy Roller” acts as a thesis for the record and represents the restlessness Nguyen felt upon settling down in San Francisco in hopes of having more time to experience life.
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Photo by Scott Newton / KLRU
Nguyen trades her banjo in for a slide guitar to play “Squareneck” from her collaborative album with Mirah, Thao & Mirah. This number unifies the band completely as her guitarist, keyboardist, and trumpet player all ditch their instruments in exchange for supporting Nguyen on tambourines. Easily one of the best moments of the evening, undoubtedly, comes during a rendition of “Beat (Health, Life and Fire)” from the band’s 2008 album We Brave Bee Stings and All. Nguyen begins the song on guitar, but midway through the song lays down her guitar and for her fifth instrument change of the evening, picks up drumsticks to play alongside her drummer for the song’s climax, before switching back to guitar to finish out the number. Any crowd members heretofore unconvinced, surely found themselves convinced now. Watching Nguyen glide easily between instruments in navigating a solid body of work is a magical and inspiring experience.
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Photo by Scott Newton / KLRU
The audience loves her, and dances through numbers like “Know Better Learn Faster” in which the keyboardist unfurls an operatic vocal solo, “Kindness Be Conceived” which according to Nguyen is “as country as we get.” The band even breaks into a cover of Ludacris’ “What’s Your Fantasy” in case fans weren’t compelled to love this band by this point in the show. The show builds to the last album’s titular track, “We the Common (For Valerie Bolden), which Nguyen dedicated to the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP). In her touring hiatus, Nguyen dedicated time working with the CCWP, which became a major influence in her songwriting for the latest album. “We the Common” answers earlier cries for purpose and ends the show on a perfect note. Thao & the Get Down Stay Down play another Austin show, this one at Mohawk, along with Tele Novella on Saturday night, before leaving town.
