Thao Nguyen blew the top off of the shed stage at Waterloo Park, dancing about in her cute blue dress and boots. She was one more ray of sunshine on a completely glorious sun-shiny day for the Mess With Texas party. Playing with only a couple of gents, rather than the full lineup of the Get Down Stay Down, Thao played raucous, noodly guitar and sang with a whimsical tone and core to her sound. Featuring an active bass line and Rusted Root-type short vocal phrases, Thao got a hot mess of a SXSW crowd dancing around to her happy melodies. She has a knack for stringing just a few words together at a time, never broadcasting what her lyric will turn out to be. This coyness of character is devastatingly appealing, leaving us thunderstruck on the lawn.
Thao was incredibly gracious, thanking everyone for coming out to spend a little time with her and her boys. Then, noting that she needed to tape her dress up a little bit to keep it from tearing or falling off or unraveling (I missed which, precisely), she said that she'd distract us with some beat boxing. And MAN can she tear it up. Her mouth and throat managed to give off multi-instrumental sounds, playing around rhythmically as well as tonally. Her set was perfect outdoor music, and gave us a great opportunity to get a little grooving done.
