The last time this writer had the pleasure of seeing Ty Segall at Thalia Hall, he started his performance by crawling up to the microphone, sporting his trademark Sloppo baby mask. He proceeded to rip through a delightfully demented set chock-full of tunes from his brilliant Emotional Mugger album, which had just come out at the time (circa 2016). Suffice it to say it was a pretty memorable gig, especially for fans who enjoyed Ty’s more provocative and visceral side.
But when you think about it, that’s what has always separated Ty Segall from the rest of the garage-rock pack: the fact that, although he can certainly shred with the best of them, there’s usually a subtle (or occasionally not-so-subtle) dose of psych-flavored menace baked into the proverbial batter, so to speak. Indeed, it could be argued that Ty has always been at his creative best when embracing his more eccentric/experimental tendencies, which is partly why his new album Three Bells is such an intriguing listening experience. It’s got all the tasty grooves and scuzzy riffs fans have come to expect from a Ty Segall album, but it’s the psychedelic explorations/evolutions on songs like “Void” (to name just one example) that really steal the show.
Given the heavily flavored psychedelic nature of Three Bells, this reviewer was particularly curious how those songs would translate in a live setting and how Segall’s latest psych-centric kick might influence his broader setlist and performance. That was certainly reason enough to lure out truly, along with legions of other Segall fans, to his sold-out Thalia Hall show on a beautiful Monday night in Chicago.
Indeed, those of us in attendance were treated to a solid set of tunes that predictably pulled heavily from his aforementioned latest album. In fact, Segall and company kicked off their set by performing the first four songs from Three Bells, which proved to be a pretty fantastic way to get things going. The back-to-back combo of “The Bell” and “Void” were particularly engrossing. Although the songs were delivered pretty much in sync with the studio versions (with little to no improvisation), they nonetheless had a somewhat hypotonic effect on the crowd, serving as the psych-flavored appetizer and effectively luring us into Segall’s delightfully warped sonic world.
From there, things got groovier as the band progressed into “I Hear” and “Hi Dee Dee”, the latter of which sounded borderline funky in a live setting. Those tunes helped break the hypnotic spell cast by the two opening numbers, getting the crowd swaying a bit, but it wasn’t until the 5th song in the set that an actual moshpit broke out, courtesy of a rightfully ripping performance of “The Crawler”. Segall kept the old-school vibes going by peppering in a couple of classics from his Goodbye Bread record, including a delightfully crunchy rendition of “My Head Explodes” and a somewhat busier yet still relatively mellow version of the title track from that album.
Overall, Segall did a nice job of alternating his older material in with his new songs from Three Bells, but for this reviewer, he saved the best for last with an absolutely crushing version of “Melted” to close out his set. Maybe that song just sounded heavier because it immediately followed the markedly brighter/breezier nature of “My Lady’s on Fire”, which proceeded it as part of the encore. Still, whatever the case, it was no doubt a resounding way to close out a satisfying set of songs from Mr. Segall. And although, outside of most of the Three Bells offerings, the broader setlist did not seem particularly psych-influenced (mainly due to old-school selections/minimal improvisation or detours), after witnessing such a killer set, such qualms were largely an afterthought. When you have a back catalog as rich and varied as Segall’s, it’s hard to go wrong in a live setting, as evidenced by his enthralling performance Monday night at Thalia Hall.
