Brightest Young Things

all photos: Kimberly Cadena

"Is this how you want it? Ok, Ok" and with those words accompanied with the steady strutting drums and snaps, Thao & Mirah begun their much anticipated show at the Black Cat this past Sunday, and certainly left many of us wanting more.

Some things are simply amazing when together (pb&j, pitta & hummus etc) and the collaboration of these artists is not an exception. The fusion of Thao's untameable energy and Mirah's outstanding vocals resulted in a delightful dynamic indie folk experience, when both musicians played songs from both of their discographies- what Mirah described as a "super extended set of greatest hits."

Wearing the shiny gray dress and wooden necklace given to her by her mother minutes before the show, Thao dominated the stage, and like a kid that has had too much candy, flew around from one side to other contracting us all with her electricity. One moment she would be banging on the drums and the other she'd be embarking on elaborated guitar jams and emotional trances in songs like " When We Swam", "Body" and "Bag of Hammers" that undoubtedly made the masses move inside and out. Her versatility truly showed when after being bouncing up and down, she striped down and showed us a rawer side, and with each crescendo of "oh oh ohs” the emotion of Mirah's "But What Of The Strangers" came to fruition and was proven as I looked around the room and witnessed a tear drop.

Mirah antagonized Thao's charming manicness with her precise, astounding voice and impressive guitar skills, and in songs (an personal old time favorite) "The Dogs of B.A” and "Bones and Skin" claimed the stage as her own beaming with personal magnetism and melodious chords, and the crowd followed her with snaps. Mirah gave a spin to the night by expressing "How things are so fucked up” with the "Nola"- a sullen, soft song about post- Katrina feelings- that, judging by the expressions of the crowd and the hair on my arms standing up straight and paying notice, am pretty sure, hit home. (Thao took advantage of this emotional occasion to invite people to get involved and support organizations such as Oxfam that advocates from climate change to human rights).

Later With Mirah's "Light the Match," both bands came together in an unforgettable performance, filled with a violin and clarinet that could almost speak, that went hand to hand with playful chemistry of the entire set. This same chemistry doubled when opening band " These United States" joined them in stage in a “soul clapping session” and accompanied by an array of instruments, complex ethnic sounds, and drum-line fusion that got everyone in the room dancing and clapping.

The night had a brief intervention (water break!) or " A Get-To-Know Mirah and Thao trivia," which ended with the crowd ended singing "fight, fight for science and teach.." Thao's high school’s fight song, and other goofiness such as Thao's beat boxing sesh and Mirah's sunflowers, proved true the amazing dynamic duo has going on and was impossible not to partake on the fun.

Previously in Live DC:

• 5/22: LiveDC: Spirit Animal @ Red Palace
• 5/22: LiveDC: Astra Via @ Black Cat
• 5/22: LiveDC: Father John Misty @ Rock & Roll Hotel
• 5/22: LiveDC: Drive-By Truckers and Lucinda Williams @ Merriweather
• 5/22: Photos: Summer Camp takes the "Ladies of Town" Drag Show
• 5/22: LiveDC: Penguin Prison & Class Actress @ RNR Hotel
• 5/21: LiveDC: James Morrison @ 930 Club
• 5/21: Photos: Que Sera L'Anniversaire @ Napoleon
• 5/21: LiveDC: La Sera/ Beach Week @ Red Palace
• 5/21: LiveDC: The Black Keys & Arctic Monkeys @ Merriweather Post Pavilion