Thao and her band (I'm honestly not sure, are they still Thao and The Get Down Stay Down or not?) were in Toronto on March 24 to play a gig that was in their calendar and mine for May of 2020. This tour is to celebrate their latest album Temple.
I've had Thao's music in my library since I heard "Bag of Hammers" and picked up We Brave Bee Stings and All. This marked my first time seeing her live and also my first show of 2022.
It was so great to be back in a live music venue, and specifically one as wonderful as The Great Hall, and enjoying the magic of live music again. These were all fantastic acts to get me back into live music in 2022! My photos and thoughts on openers Becca Mancari and Why Bonnie can be found here and here.
Thao and her band have a fun energy and excited vibe. The musicianship is outstanding and their passion was exchanged and grew between band and audience. It's always a powerful thing to be a part of.
A few highlights from the set: "Phenom" from Temple got a great response from the crowd, "Holy Roller" is one of my personal faves and I loved hearing it live, we got to hear a new unreleased song with a very cool hook/riff, the audience participation kicked into high gear for "Fool Forever", which included some of MIA's "Bad Girls". Nice touch! I loved the impassioned delivery and outstanding vocals on "Guts", and "Every Body" has such a great groove. After the main set, Thao returned to the stage for a solo electric encore of "Feet Asleep" and "Know Better Learn Faster", capping off an awesome night of music and fantastic performances by all the artists.
What a wonderful night out and a wonderful way to start the 2022 concert season for me.
Here are a couple of Thao's tunes:
"Phenom"
"Holy Roller"