Live music review: Ty Segall brought his Three Bells tour to Mohawk April 22 with Sharpie Smile
Prolific garage rocker, Ty Segall brought his current tour to Mohawk on April 22 in support of his latest album, Three Bells. The new record has seen generally favorable reviews, with a Metacritic score of 82. A frequent performer in Austin, Segall always draws a devoted audience to his Central Texas shows and last month’s gig was no exception.
Opening band Sharpie Smile, formally known as Kamikaze Palm Tree. Dylan Hadley and Cole Berliner formed Kamikaze Palm Tree in their hometown of San Francisco in 2015. The duo merged their nostalgic melodies with their electronic side, changing their moniker and direction a bit. They opened for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard previously and had a horrible reception from fans. Ty’s Mohawk crowd seemed to like them more. Perhaps it’s their shift to a more electronic sound or maybe they’ve worked out the kinks since changing direction? Either way, we were glad to see a favorable response from Austin fans.
Segall played most of his new album, Three Bells leaving little room for the garage psych classics he’s known for. The “You’re the Doctor” encore off his album Twins was probably the fuzziest and heaviest moment of the evening if we’re being honest. Nevertheless the performance was enjoyable and highlighted the expert musical chops of his band. In particular, new drummer, Evan Burrows (Wand) KILLED IT. Burrows isn’t exactly a stranger touring with Segall. He previously played with Ty Segall & The Muggers.
Bassist Mikal Cronin is still a fucking badass. He’ll always be Ty’s right hand man. (No pun intended). If you were at The Cosmic Clash and Play to the Plants’ Webberville Block Party you may remember Cronin from his appearance with Jess Cornelius at Cavalier. The man lives to play bass. Emmett Kelly’s guitar playing fits into any Segall style. His shreddier guitar sections made for some mesmerizing moments.
As expected Segall still doesn’t banter with the audience. He prefers to let his music and performance do the talking. The new songs focus on instrumental patience and band improvisation. While things felt slower at times than the typically frenetic pace of a Ty Segall show, the band made space for the tunes to have a slower burn that allowed for that much more of a catharsis.
Ty Segall and the Goddamn Kickass Band. That’s what this iteration of his many projects should be called. Segall has a single solo acoustic date in San Diego before taking his band across the pond for a European Summer tour. Check his upcoming tour dates here.
All photos by Drew Doggett
Editor, Greg Ackerman contributed to this story
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