Show Review: Ty Segall @ Emos (8/7)

So often I find myself listening to these beautifully melodic bands, completely entranced in what they’re trying to capture with their sound.  But, every so often, the young punk in me awakens, and I get to catch a glorious moment of raucous power on stage, if only for a night. Such was the case on Saturday, as I caught Ty Segall, and a slew of other bands.

I just missed A Giant Dog, excluding a track or two, and they seemed rather energetic, with some great interplay between guitar player and vocalist Sabrina.  She’s got a nice stage presence, and strong vocals to go along with those, so you can say it was a pleasant start to the evening.  Surprisingly one of the more energetic bands of the night came up next, Charlie and the Moonhearts.  They were furiously quick, pounding out quick rhythms with discordant guitars lines.  Their energy inspired the audience, getting people to move all about the room.  Honestly, they were so fast, I felt like I barely had time to take it all in, but what I saw definitely inspired me to just let loose for the rest of the evening.

Our third band of the night was local Austin favorite, The Hex Dispensers, and to be honest, I’ve sort of overlooked the group in the past, as my tastes have mellowed.  I will, however, change that next time I’m at the record store.  Okay, so they might not have had a lot of movement on stage, but the vocals were so powerful that I tried to scream along to the few songs that I knew by heart, barely able to contain my excitement.  It was just an old style of rock n’ roll, the band just banging out song after song, using knifing guitar lines and just an overall sense of fury.  They just left a really good feeling in the room, and they definitely seemed to be enjoying the evening.  Some people might question why Royal Baths followed all the loud bombast of the opening acts, as they definitely had a different tone, but I looked at them as sort of a cleanser or a breather.  This isn’t to say that their dark tinted post-rock didn’t inspire anyone, rather it was just a slight change of pace.  Instead of rocking straight ahead, they allowed for their chords to ring out a bit more, giving more space to their sound.  Still, they had the same stage energy as the rest of the bounds, just a more drawn out sound, but it only helped build the anticipation for the main entree of the night, Ty Segall.

Ty was everything that I wanted him to be.  He was active on stage, slinging his guitar about, encouraging the amps to feedback in just the right way.  And you know what, you have to give credit to the rest of his band, as well.  Every inch of power was matched incredibly with their own skillful playing, bringing Ty’s vision of garage rock to the forefront. There was even an adorable moment between he and girlfriend, Denee, who plays bass.  She, by the way, tore it up all night, providing solid grooves. Every song off Melted sound precisely as it does on the record, which is a great thing in my opinion, as that’s one of the better releases this year.  Their was a certain essence of jubilation coming from the stage, and as the group played hit after hit, the crowd only grew more enthused.  Ty Segall has definitely put in some time with his craft, and the audience at Emos was definitely awarded with their attendance, as I haven’t seen such an action packed good time in quite a bit.

Photos provided by Austin Town Hall’s favorite photographer, Mark Rehak. Visit her on Flickr.