I’ve seen Thao perform in a lot of non-traditional spaces and situations. I’ve probably seen her perform more non-traditional sets than traditional sets at this point… I’ve seen her do a high concept stand-up and music variety show, I’ve seen her as the special guest of a fake talk show where Moby taught her how to play “Purple Rain,” I’ve seen her absolutely kill “Push It” by Salt-n-Pepa while being backed by Fred Armisen & Carrie Brownstein, and I’ve even seen her create a live score to a series of classic film shorts! And that’s just what I’ve written about… So it seems appropriate that Thao is my first “COVID-Safe” show.
Oddly enough, since this show’s announcement, SF has removed most COVID restrictions. Unlike pretty much the rest of the country, the residents of SF have actually done a “bang-up” job of getting vaccinated and keeping each other safe and protected from the virus. This means that this show could very well be the last show performed with COVID precautions in place. (Edit: The Chapel will continue to do outdoor shows until September!) So remember, if we don’t want SF to go back under lockdown like what just happened in Israel, please encourage your fellow music fan to get vaccinated!
The Chapel has been doing COVID-safe shows for almost a year now, and by now, they seem to have it down to a science. They are utilizing a space that had been historically reserved for staff and artist parking and made it into a nice and cozy performance space. The entirely masked staff is friendly and helpful. The tables are nicely spaced for social distancing and viewing, including various heights of tables and stools to enjoy the show from the back. In order to not force people to share menus, they actually had a QR code on the table that you could scan to see the menu (a three-course meal was included in the ticket price). And, since the rules in SF have changed since the show was announced, the venue did well with signage expressing some flexibility with the protocols: masks were fine to remove in the outdoor performance space but were required anywhere indoors. This seems reasonable since the virus only really travels outdoors in tightly packed crowds, which the venue made sure we weren’t experiencing.
Another shift since the show was announced- it was billed as Thao (Solo), yet the stage featured a full band set-up. Since the show was announced, the latest iteration of Thao’s backup band, The Get Down Stay Down, was able to get vaccinated and rehearse, so they were able to play live! Backing her was former Bleached bassist Micayla Grace and long-time drummer Jason Slota, and the moment the rhythm section took the stage and I was in an empty area set aside for photographers in the back corner of the room, I experienced both goosebumps and tears. For the first time in a year and a half, I ACTUALLY FELT NORMAL! It was such an intense, emotional rush… I couldn’t believe it. Everything felt like a homecoming. When Nguyen and her band jumped into the banjo-driven set opener “Holy Roller,” the “normal” feeling leapt to a feeling of electrified. This band, playing in front of an audience for the first time, well, ever. Seeing friends and experiencing art collectively for the first time in far too long, it’s hard to really explain it. It was a spiritual experience.
We got to experience the music from last year’s criminally underrated Temples live about a year after we were supposed to, and those songs were played with an intense passion like they’ve been trying to climb out of a box for 16 months. The classic tracks were shredded. Grace, who comes from the LA punk world, played with the kinda reckless abandon you’d expect to see at when you finally realize the world might not be coming to an end. The band even took on a request from the audience to play “a song starting with the letter ‘B'” which led Nguyen to play “Bag Of Hammers” for the first time in many, many years. So many years that nobody else on stage had EVER played the song before. Like a pair of troopers, Grace and Slota filled in the blanks and played the song, at least what they could deduce from Thao’s leads what their parts were.
The show was magic in a way that I hadn’t experienced in a LOONG time. It was also lovely to experience outdoor music in an intimate setting, something that the Bay Area is sorely missing. I can only hope that The Chapel keeps up the outdoor stage long after we can share each other’s air again.
