Ty Segall's Manipulator Tour
With Wand and Plastic Pinks
Presented by Sweat Records
The Stage, Miami
Thursday, September 11, 2014
You forget how many varieties of white people there are until you go to a real rock show.
There's the dirty, hairy skinny dude; the twee, soft-spoken sarcastic; the black-clad hipster ice queens; and so on.
Last night, they all showed up to see Ty Segall rip apart The Stage Miami, and there were even plenty of non-white people surfing the crowd, because this guy's axe work is the truth.
See also: Ty Segall on New Album, Manipulator, and "Going Insane a Little Bit"
If you haven't heard of Ty Segall by now, you probably don't believe in the resurrection of rock at all. Listening to the pride of California would have you feeling like the garage-punk wave never receded.
In Miami, by the time he took control of The Stage Miami's crowd at about 11:15 p.m., the place was packed so heavy, even walking through the patio was an never-ending game of unintentional grab ass.
We'd love to say that Ty dove right in, shocking the atmosphere with a face-crunching riff. But instead, some dude in a cowboy hat took the mic to talk about the planet Jupiter for a while. It was supposed to be funny or something, but it was just kind of weird. Anyway, Cowboy Jimmy must be a friend of the band, and he claimed to find these guys, "The Manipulators," on the giant planet.
When he was done making awkward jokes, we finally got to the damn music, with "Manipulator," the title track off Segall's latest album. Right away, there was a blast of sweaty kids, crowd-surfing and pogo-dancing without much regard for personal space -- not that anyone was concerned about that sorta shit.
See also: Five Signs You Might Be a Shitty Guitarist
Ty Segall and his band (which most admirably includes a really killer lady drummer) are so tight, it's uncanny. Their thrashing is definitely a mess, but it's the tidiest mess that we've ever heard. And the mind-bending precision with which Segall broke down the solos on "Feel" was so astounding, we stared in awe like dumb dogs.
The early portion of the evening's setlist consisted of mostly new material, from "It's Over" to "Tall Man Skinny Lady," "The Faker," and "The Connection Man." Meanwhile, hundreds of spazzed-out fans were doing their best impression of wild monkeys on Adderall. We've never seen so many successful crowd-surfers.
People were tearing their shirts off and sailing them through the air. Someone even brought a pillow to throw, which made its way onto the stage to confound the talent. Throughout the madness, the band never missed a step, always focused on Ty, the master conductor of this blistering rock 'n' roll squall.
They let loose some older material in the second half of the set, like "I Bought My Eyes" and "Slaughterhouse." We're pretty sure we heard "You're the Doctor," but to be honest, things were pretty nuts by the end. One of the guitar players was shredding on top of some dude's shoulders. And Ty was rippin' it while standing on the hands of the front row. Also, there was a lot or marijuana going around.
What we can be sure of, though, is Segall and crew finished up with a most satisfying cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Making Love." That was a real sing-along moment, and a great prelude to the inevitable chants of "One more song!"
We did get a few encore jams, including the ever-classic "Girlfriend," and with that, the crowd sadly watched Ty Segall leave. There was the whisper of another chant of "One more song!" But it didn't go anywhere, and The Stage's staff seemed set on this being the end.
It was time to close up tabs and headbang to our respective vehicles. But we could all sleep well knowing the spirit of rock 'n' roll is still alive.
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