venue: the independent artist: thao nguyen + the get down stay down, the portland cello project w/ david schultz
who: john
when: 21 november 2009 (saturday)
last month, i went to my last show of 2009. and similar to the number of shoes i purchased, it came out to a low total of 9. in 2008, i went to a total of 17 concerts so 9 is quite sad for me. i actually saw thao back in september with ro. and had planned to see her while i was in chicago over halloween. unfortunately, it didn't work out. what's funny is that i was going to see thao in chicago with john (who lives in chicago) and ended up seeing them with him here.
before the show, we went to dinner with my friends, grace and bob. we ate at espetus churrascaria in the city. if you've never been there, it's a fancy brazilian steakhouse smorgasbord. all the m-m-m meat that you can eat. and i ate and ate and ate. i took a break and ate some more. i ate more than john did. in fact, i ate my money's worth and his! i think he was a little scared of me afterward. hahah.
after dinner, we walked grace and bob back to their place (also where we parked) and headed over to the independent. we got there early so we could get good seats. in my ripe old age, i find that i don't mind sitting through opening acts if i can secure a seat. normally, i don't care for a good view as i can't really see anything unless i'm on the second floor. the independent does not have a second floor that is open to the public. however, the areas next to the walls are spaces that are a few steps above ground level. and i was pleasantly surprised by the opening bands. david schultz started off the night. he was charmingly folky. next up was the portland cello project. i really didn't know what to expect when i realized it would be mostly if not purely an instrumental set (with the occasional vocalist stepping in). they did a bunch of instrumental covers but the most impressive of them, was the super mario brothers video game theme. it was very entertaining.
by the time thao came on, the venue was packed. it looked like a full house. she was so excited about being back in the city (it was the end of their tour). when i saw thao and the get down stay down play back in september, it was prior to the release of know better learn faster. they played one song (body) from the new album. back to the current show... seeing thao live is a treat. she is so uniquely energetic and genuine. i don't think i've seen many (or any) musicians move the way she does while playing her guitar. it's interesting because she doesn't have the prettiest voice out there, nor are her lyrics particularly thought-provoking. what she does well is how she combines her vocals and the music (with the help of an awesome producer). the end result: amusing, upbeat and catchy tunes that i don't want to stop listening to.
rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ yep, still girl-crushing on her.
