Show Review: Ty Segall @ Mohawk (1/25)

January 28, 2013 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

I don’t know how he does it, but Ty Segall just keeps pumping out good albums, and with all those good albums usually comes a nice trip down to Austin. Of course, our city must be like a home away from home, as the Mohawk again sold out for the evening.

Read on for thoughts and pics from Glen Brown!

Local boys OBN IIIs kicked the night off, and did it mostly in the right fashion. I expected that a larger stage would do wonders for their sound, but the guitars seemed really low in the mix for some reason, therefore lacking a little bit of the punch. Orville, however, is always entertaining, stalking about the stage and working the audience; he even brought out some props. The majority of their set included songs from their new self-titled album, which shows a lot of solid range musically. While I can complain about the sound that night, I’ll never complain about the group’s performance…one of the best acts playing around Austin.

Ex-Cult came into town backed by their much-lauded self-titled LP from Goner Records, which I admit is a solid effort. They played quick and fast, which helped continue the rambunctious start to the evening. Natalie Hoffmann is definitely the stage attraction, swinging her bass about recklessly. Playing songs like “Knives on Both Sides” and “M.P.D.” warmed my ears, but after a bit, the sound of the group did blend together a bit, weakening the power of the set overall.

Then came Ty. What else can really be said about the guy? Hair is everywhere. His companion Mikal is perfect in his role. He played songs from all over his catalogue, which demonstrates just how much quality releases he’s put out there. I think one of my favorite live tracks has got to be “You Make the Sun Fry;” I like the build up and the musical reaction that follows. It actually reminds me what a wonderful album Goodbye Bread was, which, I’ll admit, was not my initial impression.

I don’t think a single person went home disappointed on Friday night, but the sold out audience makes me wonder one thing: is it time Ty moves on to a larger venue? Yea, I know he played La Zona Rosa, but as a headliner, he’s always at Mohawk, and I’ll always connect with him there, but the larger his audience grows, he’s got to go somewhere bigger right? I guess only time will tell, but one thing is for sure: Austin loves Ty Segall.