I have heard of Thao for a while now, she’s a young local singer with a degree of success (signed to Kill Rock Stars). I’d never gotten around to seeing her but a friend who is a big fan wanted to go so I was quite willing. I have kind of a thing for Asian-American guitar-playing chicks anyway… who doesn’t?

She was pretty good… dynamic, charismatic, had decent chops on guitar. She reminded me of a cross between Edie Brickell and Ani DiFranco. I like that kind of music but it isn’t my favorite, and Thao veered more into hippy-dippy territory than Ani D. ever has. I was less impressed by her backing band… they didn’t really push her in any interesting direction, and didn’t seem to contribute much to her songs. I’d just as soon see her solo or with a band that had some edgier ideas.

Still, she is young and quite talented and could be successful. Whether or not she is successful and *good* is a whole different matter. We’ll see.

Here’s a flickr snap by epskalaw: