Punk foursome Beach Slang set the bar high Saturday night at Neon Reverb, and then fuzz-rocker Ty Segall obliterated it completely on Sunday, capping the weekend with a manic performance ranking among the Downtown festival’s all-time best.
Ty Segall anchored one of Neon Reverb’s most memorable single nights—September 11, 2012 at the Bunkhouse—so perhaps it’s fitting the California garage-rocker will help Las Vegas’ revered DIY music festival usher in its new era, at the same (relaunched) Downtown venue.
Ty Segall has long been a musical seeker—in a 2012 Weekly interview he listed Hawkwind, The Fugs, Gong and The Residents among key recent spins—and his latest album finds him putting his record collection to full use.
As the venue’s soundman hurried to cover his gear with tarps and the audience fretted over a potential cancellation, Segall strode onstage and began raging in the rain.
For the Recently Found Innocent picks up from last year’s choice Cyclops Reap writing-wise—showcasing Presley’s clever hooks and retro-British (though he’s not) constructs—but in a less fuzzy, less fragmented sonic environment.
Watching Ty Segall at the Outdoor Theatre to kick off my Saturday drove home a 2014 Coachella reality: the relative lack of noisy, guitar-driven bands.
When I caught Ty Segall at FYF Fest last summer in LA, he was touring behind 2013’s folky Sleeper, and his set was appropriately seated and subdued. When he hit Vegas two months later, he got heavy and hypnotic, with psych-rock trio Fuzz.
