The atmosphere at 9:30 Club was filled with exhilaration and raw power on Sept. 16, as fuzz rock guru Ty Segall put on an act of 21st century indie garage rock.
Glam rock band T. Rex poured out of the speakers in anticipation of Segall’s music, as crowd members congregated into the theater after a quick smoke break and a performance from opening band Wand.
As the crowd began to move and push towards the front, audience members became silent when a strange man wearing a cowboy hat walked onto the stage. Fully equipped with a handlebar mustache, the man who called himself Segall’s manager soon began reciting a long tangent filled with corny and dry jokes. After around five minutes, the jokes stopped and the screeching sounds of garage rock began.
As Segall and his band walked onto the stage, they were met with the typical cheers from the audience, but the concert was anything but typical. Segall brought the raw, dated sounds of rock ‘n’ roll, similar to his performance on TBS’s Conan last month.
Segall’s set mainly consisted of songs from his newest album “Manipulator,” including “The Singer,” “It’s Over,” “Feel” and the title track. Segall also performed other classics including “Finger” and “Girlfriend.”
While Segall played through his set the crowd raged on. As members of the mosh pit dripped with sweat, many were pushed and swirled around in a circular motion. An aerial view would have probably resembled wet clothes in a washing machine spinning around rapidly.
“It felt like people were falling from the sky as limbs and whole bodies were on top of the crowd, being held up against gravity’s will.”
In addition to the mosh pit, crowd surfing also happened throughout the night. With absolutely no restraint from the 9:30 Club’s bouncers, audience members averaged at least two stage dives per minute during most of the concert.
With ridiculous dances and hand gestures, audience members also run around freely on the stage. It felt like people were falling from the sky as limbs and whole bodies were on top of the crowd, being held up against gravity’s will.
It was at the end of the night, when the crowd became tired, that the songs being performed all began to sound the same. It seemed as if it had only taken Segall and his band two hours to break the novelty of garage rock.
However, that is the truth behind most indie artists and music revival auteurs today. Playing rock music derived from 60 years of history and influence can at times be challenging for modern-day artists to differentiate in sound. However, Segall is an exception when it comes to capturing the raw and original sounds for music. The concert showed how an artist in today’s music world can reinvent a genre of music to make it sound almost brand new.
