Live Review + Gallery | Ty Segall @ The Roundhouse, London

Kieran Webber

Director and Founder of CLUNK Magazine, CLUNK Events, and other CLUNK affiliate businesses. You’ll probably find me tucked away somewhere sending emails, listening to music, and creating content.

Ty Segall continues to prove that he is one of the last bastions of rock music in an industry that feels stale

Ty Segall has long been an influence on myself and everything we do at CLUNK Magazine. Outside of the bands my father had showed me (Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, etc) I was yet to discover my own obsession or version. Then comes along Ty Segall, the Californian weirdo rocker who blew my mind back in 2012, since then I have hurriedly invested in all things Ty and not once have I been let down. He is, in my opinion, one of the last bastions of true, really true to its form rock music. So, you can imagine my excitement when I was able to attend and shoot Ty at the iconic Camden venue, The Roundhouse.

Supporting him was the doom space rock duo Earth Tongue, a band I first saw in a tiny pub in Cornwall, around 5 years ago. Now, here they were gracing the mighty halls of The Roundhouse and galavanting around the world with Ty Segall. It’s a fitting ladder climb for the band who are clearly influenced by his projects such as Fuzz. It was a quick hitter of a set that brought down thunderous riffs and nerded out rock songs about space battles and the like.

After a quick swap over it wasn’t long before Ty took to the stage. The one thing I have always admired about Ty and his live shows is how in control of them they are. Even to the point of tuning up before the were to play, it really is like watching your best mates jam band. After a quick tuning, the thunder was brought down upon us without mercy, as expected it was loud.

Opening with ‘The Bell’, a track off his latest album ‘Three Bells’, an off kilter track that starts slow and quickly erupts into an array of guitars, solos, and wild bass. It’s Ty at his best and sets the tone for the rest of the show, which would follow similarly. Surprisingly, he played through a wide variety of his tracks, new and old, some older than expected. Such as ‘Goodbye Bread’, ‘My Head Explodes’, and ‘Girlfriend’.

The whole set was a massive jam, with tracks being elongated in areas, guitars flurried all over the place, it was a true rock n roll performance. Interestingly, it was the most active I have seen Ty at a show before too as he playfully moved around and gave a few winks to the crowd, it was incredibly infectious.

Overall, it was a fans delight as we got a brilliant mix of new and old Ty and the new line-up (minus Charles Moothart) does work, however, I can’t deny that the thumping percussion that he provides was sorely missed. However, Ty stood tall as always and played his absolute heart out and left a packed crowd of rock fans very happy. Weirdo rock is well and truly alive and Ty is it’s bastion.