Thao with the Get Down Stay Down stomp and swagger into the hearts of a jaded NYC crowd

May 14, 2009, at Bowery Ballroom

By April Hayes
Published: May 18th, 2009 | 5:40pm

Thao Nguyen brought her particular brand of clever, danceable indie-folk swagger to NYC’s Bowery Ballroom on Thursday, on an eclectic bill with Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers and Sister Suvi.

Hopefully destined for some serious crossover success, Crain — Ramseur Records’ cherubic, feisty (and Feist-y) Taylor Swift for the indie set — kicked off the night with gorgeously melodic tales of love and loss in the American South. The dominantly young-female crowd and their boyfriends ate up her countrified folk and adorable banter about still feeling awestruck to play in New York City. “Are there any celebrities in the audience? I want my picture taken with America Ferrera to prove we’re not the same person!”

And Crain got her wish — not the Ugly Betty one, but probably better than that, with the elderstatesman of art rock and apparent Nguyen enthusiast David Byrne nodding his approval and making himself inconspicuous from the bar at the back of the room. Highlights included the infectious “Get the Fever Out” and bona fide barnburner “Devils in Boston,” off Crain’s 2009 LP Songs in the Night.

Sister Suvi — featuring Patrick Gregoire of Islands, one-woman band in her own right Merrill Garbus (aka tUnE-YaRdS), and the inventive Nico Dann on drums — kicked the sonic science up 10 notches by starting off with a jam session to “Desolation,” joined on stage by Crain, Nguyen, and her band, which created a joyful racket of tambourines, drumsticks, and all manners of other noisemakers.

With Garbus and Gregoire switching up instruments with each song and deftly maneuvering between droney psych and pop harmonies, it was clear that the members of Sister Suvi are three very capable and challenging artists at work. But Garbus’ sick ukulele stylings aside, the group’s complex experimentalism was somewhat a hard sell, sandwiched between two highly charming and accessible singer-songwriters. The audience seemed a bit indifferent toward the overly quirky, scream-filled “Violence in Nigeria,” but the trio definitely hit its stride midway through the set with the sha na na–chorused melancholy ode to Montreal, “The Lot.” And the closer, “Champion,” with its epic build and underpinning of a dark drum heartbeat, further demonstrated the band’s versatility and willingness to take an audience to new places.

But the main event was clearly Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, and instantly after taking the stage, Nguyen established her supremacy as one of the freshest new songwriters and performers. Her recordings play up her catchy melodies and playful lyrics, but in front of a crowd, Nguyen takes on a formidable power and command of her own material. A poppy standout track from 2008’s We Brave Bee Stings and All (Kill Rock Stars), “Swimming Pools” got sped up and became almost confrontational, with Nguyen all ferocious strum and cowboy-boot stomp as she led the crowd in a sing-along of “We, we brave bee stings and all / And we don’t dive, we cannonball” and elicited this exuberant shout from one particularly excited audience member: “THAT is the best song everrrrrrrr!” (David Byrne, was it you?)

While her intelligent, addictive ditties may not exactly pick up the riot-grrrl gauntlet thrown down by legendary Kill Rock Stars labelmates Kathleen Hanna and Sleater-Kinney, Nguyen and her nimble three-piece can definitely move a crowd, both physically and emotionally. Her songwriting chops proved themselves on the set highlight “Beat (Health, Life, and Fire),” with Nguyen breathily but forcefully belting out, “How can you stand it / When I run, like a bandit / I wear him like a habit / In the lining of my jacket.”

With women fronting or featured in all of the acts and an overall sense of camaraderie pervading all three sets, the night felt like an ideal show to kick off music festival season: energetic, diverse, and above all, genuinely fun.
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For more photos from this show visit Venus Zine’s Flickr page
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Thao Nguyen feature
Thao Nguyen Hotel Café feature
Samantha Crain Hotel Café feature
Samantha Crain in Venus Zine’s 25 Under 25