The last time I saw Ty Segall I was lifting him into a crowd of people so he could surf along to the sounds of the Jesus and Mary Chain, he had a grin on his face and a air of "fuck it, let's have fun" around him. When combined with his prodigious talent and seemingly tireless work rate, it's easy to see why many are championing the California native as the next big thing.
This type of hype proved to not be unwarranted on Saturday night. The show, presented by Parade of Flesh at Club Dada, saw a sold-out crowd of high energy fans eager to worship at the alter of Segall's guitar. Starting his set with the call of "Let's get weird," Segall launched into the first single from his latest album, Twins: "Thank God For The Sinners." Instantly the crowd started a dancing frenzy.
Throughout out the hour-long set, the crowd never seemed to calm down as Segall pushed them to new heights of energy with each song. "I Bought My Eyes" and "Girlfriend" seemed to particularly light a fire. The moshing going on in front of the stage seemed destined to break out further in the back of the club. To my left I routinely saw what may be the best boyfriend ever lift his girl friend into the air so she can get a clear view of the stage over the copious number of kids crowd surfing.
Towards the end of the set, Segall brought up Ex-Cult's Chris Shaw for what was supposed to be a ZZ Top cover but was ultimately a speedy number that was marred by technical difficulties. After the crowd refused to let the band leave the stage, Segall concluded the night with a rousing two song encore that left the room sweaty, tired and thirsting for even more. Lines quickly formed at his merch table as people wanted to continue the night in any way they could.
Segall won't be playing rooms as small as Dada again. The sell out crowd in Austin, with lines around the block and the easy sell-out of Dada proves that he's ready to take another step up, and I for one can't wait to see what he has in store for us next.
Notebook Dump:
Not to be the one guy in the area that's not on the bandwagon, but I find The Atomic Tanlines to be rather boring. I honestly think they'd be better if it didn't feel like they were trying so hard to be an "experience."
On the other side of the coin, Endless Thoughts are very, very good. Their musicianship is first rate, and every song feels as if it was crafted to maximum of the band's talent. Add in the fact that they have one of the best drummers in the area and you can easily see these guys taking off.
Overheard: A guy talking about Ex-Cults, saying, "They've got a real Germs thing going on, the singer reminds me of Darby Crash. Look at the holes in his shirt."
