Show Review: Ty Segall @ The Mohawk (8/27)
Ty Segall may as well just move to Austin and live at the condos across the street from The Mohawk. It would shorten his commute. Why do all that touring? I have a feeling, plenty of fans would be fine with it.
Ty is supporting his latest effort, a solo record called Sleeper that is a bit of a surprise to many fans. As you can read in Nathan’s review, the album has Ty picking up the acoustic guitar for a good majority of the songs, a first for some time. I have gotten used to going to Ty Segall Band shows and bracing my ribs for the inevitable crowd crush that would happen behind me while snapping a few pics. But how would the faithful react to this more personal side of Ty playing Sleeper in its entirety?
Read on for more thoughts on Ty and the openers Hidden Ritual and Holy Wave with plenty of pics…
It didn’t quite sell out; it was a Tuesday night on the first week of school, perhaps a bit of Ty fatigue as the rest of Team ATH just saw him in January headlining The Mohawk and I shot the show the previous September where he played a middle spot at La Zona. That didn’t prevent Hidden Ritual from making friends of the early crowd. They delivered a wall of fuzzed out psych that contained subtleties to set them apart. I thought the band was best in the early songs, but my new friends up front felt their set got stronger as they went on, more wall of fuzz. Either way, the crowd appreciation was high.
Holy Wave took the middle spot with a bit of awkward sound check. They seemed ready, but the board op wanted to tweak things. It sounded good, so I imagine it was worth the slight wait, but I get the feeling the band wanted to start a little early and get in an extra jam. Organ, vocals, layers, but the rhythm section had the foundation for their sound. I found it more present in their mix then the recorded stuff and I was happy about it. The flourishes of bass in the musical segues were sweet, driven drumming in a weird slow motion speed up where the songs seemed faster than they were. All well and good, but the fever pitch in the crowd for the headliner was undeniable.
Ty helped set up, putting down chairs and tuning up acoustic guitars on stage. They did a little sound checking to make sure all was good. The portion of the show dedicated to the new album was much like the new album. It was introspective and sounded brilliant. Highlights again followed Nathan’s review, but the opening track was special, setting the tone, breaking the seal of what was to come for those that hadn’t heard the new record. Eventually, the record was done and despite the acoustics and chairs on stage, a few “classics” prompted the crowd to lose their shit and begin breaking ribs of the lucky ones at the rail. There was a cover of (what I think he said) a Love song.
Crowd-surfing to acoustics. It happens.
More pics at the photo site…
