On a steamy summer's night (27 January) came Ty Segall and Freedom Band to muggy Brisbane town.
Torn from the dreamy shores of Laguna Beach, the group laid out a smorgasbord of Californian delicacies for the Princess Theatre, ranging from acoustic folk to surf punk, heavy metal, psych, and acidic outsider rock.In a recent rig rundown with Reverb, Ty mentioned the band's efforts to make things a little quieter on their current tour.
Befitting this intent, Ty began the show solo regaling eager ears with an acoustic version of 'Squealer' from 2016's high-concept 'Emotional Mugger'. The first track on his eighth full-length, the album was conceived in tandem with the beloved (and now deceased) mutant baby 'Sloppo' character.
Soon after these enthralling strums, Ty was joined by long-time collaborator and guitarist Emmett Kelly, known for his work with the likes of Jim White and Angel Olsen.
Together, the pair tore through several more acoustic tracks, including 'Saturday Pt. 1' from his critically acclaimed 2022 record 'Hello, Hi'. This was followed by another 'Emotional Mugger' cut, the country-infused 'Californian Hills'.
At this juncture, the acoustic troubadours were joined by the remainder of Freedom Band, with members of adjacent project Fuzz including Charles Moothart on drums and Mikal Cronin on bass, in addition to keys wizard Ben Boye rounding out the line-up.
There should be a snippet of this portion of the set accompanying the dictionary definition of the word 'pivot'. Like a bedsheet pulled from under a snoozing puma, the ensemble pounced on the crowd with a roaring rendition of 2012's 'Wave Goodbye', even more doom-ified than its original version.
Thus began the onslaught of fuzzed-up mayhem. Australian audiences hadn't caught Ty Segall for some years, and as such there were entire sloshing buckets full of unheard records to be introduced live.
Among this treasure trove of virginal tracks, fans were treated to the likes of 'Whisper' from 2021's synth-singed 'Harmonizer'. Born in Segall's Topanga-based Harmonizer Studios, 'Harmonizer' features the entirety of the Freedom Band's current live configuration at various points across its 10 spluttery tunes.
Though there was a bounty of fresh material to share, Ty Segall and Freedom Band still found the time to shred on some bona fide classics.
These included another title track, this time from 2014's breakout record 'Manipulator'. Featuring Revolver-esque guitar harmonies and other revamped sounds of the '60s, the performance faultlessly blended Ty Segall's signature sludgy riff-rock with his love of twee psychedelia.
On the topic of throwbacks, the band's cover of Hot Chocolate's 'Every 1's A Winner' came in at full throttle, throwing the audience into a frenzy. With a full-crowd sing-along to both riff and lyrics, this elephantine jam set a mosh in motion that seldom let up for the remainder of the main show.
Elsewhere in the evening, 'Looking At You' from 'Hello, Hi' expanded on the more harmonic elements of Ty Segall's oeuvre. Kicking off with an improvised thrall, the band progressively threaded together a symphonic tapestry of three-part harmonies.
Later came the catharsis of 'Sleeper', title track from Ty's 2013 record. One of the most enjoyable aspects of witnessing the band's current configuration was the frequent mixing and matching of arrangements. Once a primarily acoustic tune, the spiritually enchanted 'Sleeper' now came wrapped in a spellbinding blanket of hefty drums, thundering bass, and triumphant guitar solos.
Acoustic encore 'My Lady's On Fire' burned down the house, the crowd's chants bringing the penultimate performance into the territory of campfire sing-along.
Freedom Band then took to the stage for one last smattering of lysergic sorcery, laying down a dastardly version of 'Warm Hands (Freedom Returned)'. A violently catastrophic affair, the evening's closer climaxed with sweat-soaked bodies swaying to the ringing of guitar amp feedback, crowd surfers still held high as the band bid adieu.
Ty Segall possesses a knack for blending classic rock flavours into his own superbly fresh, singular sound. This power lends him the ability to borrow from a litany of genres and artists, all the while sounding like himself.
Australian shores always have room for the likes of Ty Segall and Freedom Band, and we could never have them back soon enough.
