Oakland songwriter Thao Nguyen, who performs as Thao, releases Show Me on Friday, Oct. 30, her first album in six years. It's out on Kill Rock Stars and was produced with Nate Brenner and Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards. Guests include Tune-Yards, the Linda Lindas, Neko Case and Adrian Quesada of Black Pumas.
In an interview over lunch at Chinatown's Imperial Palace, Nguyen told The San Francisco Standard that the record turns political rage into dance-floor release. The banquet hall is also where she shot the strobe-lit video for the lead single, Sick of the Times, which features the Linda Lindas: dancers crowd around a fainting Nguyen and revive her with rhythmic chest compressions.
The hometown show
- When: Sunday, Nov. 8. Doors 7:30 p.m., show 8 p.m.
- Where: The Independent, 628 Divisadero St., San Francisco
- Opener: Agouti
- Ages: 21 and up
The tour starts Nov. 3 at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles and runs through East Coast dates in mid-November, with a longer North American run in early 2027, according to the tour announcement. Nguyen dropped the name Thao & the Get Down Stay Down in 2021. The Independent's listing notes she is also writing her first book for Graywolf Press and developing a musical.