Thao & The Get Down Stay Down and Little Scream @ Higher Ground 4.11.16
Show season is back in full swing in Burlington. Monday night’s Thao & the Get Down Stay Down show marked the first of four we’ll be covering at Higher Ground over the next week.
Kicking off the night was our neighbors to the north from Montreal, Little Scream. In Higher Ground’s Showcase Lounge an awkward space between the crowd and stage always seems to inevitably form at the start of the show and Monday night was no exception. It wasn’t until about three quarters of the way through their set that the awkward gap was broken by an adorable little girl running around, dancing with her mom which also got the crowd finally moving. Regardless of the slow warm up, Little Scream filled the room with their bubbly personalities, sparkling stage presence, and rock-steady groove.
Thao & the Get Down Stay Down recently put out A Man Alive, produced by tUnE-yArDs’ Merrill Garbus debuting the band’s fresh new sound. The album delves more into noisy-rock and experiments with obscure sounds, deviating away from their folksy sound we heard on last albums. When band’s reinvent themselves it always makes me wonder how it’s going to change their live performance, but in this case Thao proved that they made the right move.
The Get Down Stay Down entered the stage with M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls” blaring in the background setting the tone for the rest of the night. The crowd’s hips continued to groove as Thao & The Get Down Stay Down opened their set with “A Man Alive,” the title track off of the new album before throwing it back to 2013’s We The Common’s “City.” The balance between new and old material played was perfect because we got to see the contrast in sound change. Although the change was drastic, live they were able to blend the material seamlessly.
By the third song the dance party was just getting started. “Let’s pop it like it’s not Monday” Thao said before playing “Modern Age,” “Astonished Man,” and “Holy Roller.” Thoa split the crowd in half for “Fool Forever” with one half singing “Oh No” and the other half responding with “But I loved you the most.” The Get Down Stay Down slowed down the dance party with “The Age of Ice” before speeding things back up and throwing it back to 2008’s We Brave The Bee Stings’ “Swimming Pool.”
A Man Alive is Thao’s first album where she really gets personal with her music and when she played “Millionaire” we could see just how much emotion the album carries. The track is about her relationship (or lack there of) with her father and as she sang the slow burning track you could see the pain on her face.
By this point in the set the band had broken that fan/band barrier and it was as though everyone was one big happy family. “I feel so close to you guys that we can discuss the set list right in front of you,” Thao said before asking the crowd how they felt about hearing “Kindness Be Conceived.” Needless to say, everyone was excited to hear it. They then played another oldie, but goodie “When We Swam” before going back into newer material.
Ever since Bernie Sanders started gaining traction as a presidential candidate just about every artist who has played Burlington has shown their support in some way. The Get Down Stay Down showed off their Bernie 2016 sticker on their keyboard and before playing “Meticulous Bird” Thao said “Thank you for welcoming us to the land of Bernie. Speaking of Bernie, this last song is about people who have been victims to people in power.” However, this track in particular goes much deeper than just that. “This song goes out to anyone who’s ever been a victim of sexual violence. It’s important to stay angry,” she said.  As Thao thrashed around the stage you could visually see her channeling her own anger into the performance.
After such an emotional song and high energy performance, the crowd wasn’t quite ready to see Thao go. They chanted for an encore and The Get Down Stay Down came back on for a more light hearted performance with a cover of Missy Elliott’s “Get Yo Freak On” and the fan favorite “We The Common.”
I’ve never seen a performance quite like Thao’s from the way the band could so easily switch between genres of music to how much emotion she put into her set. If you missed this show or have never seen Thao & The Get Down Stay Down live, I highly suggest catching them the next time they come through Burlington. I think it’s pretty safe to assume that they’ll be back after Monday night’s show.
