Oh, baby, what a show! , accompanied by his best and loudest band ever, the Muggers, brought the sold out-Gothic Theatre house down on Friday night.
The Muggers are a veritable garage supergroup. The five-piece band featured two guitarists (King Tuff’s Kyle Thomas and The Cairo Gang’s Emmett Kelly); Wand’s Cory Hanson on keyboards and frequent third guitar; Segall’s longtime bassist, Mikal Cronin; and, also from Wand, drummer, Evan Burrows.
Taking the stage as his new alter ago, Sloppo, Segall sported a creepy rubber baby mask which he wore on and off all night. Unlike other tours (even as a drummer in his other band, ) Segall didn’t play an instrument so much as bandleader. And best of all, a crazy, baby-headed bandleader.
The set featured nearly all of Segall and the Muggers’ excellent January release, “Emotional Mugger.” Performed in sequential order, the songs, like the crowd, grew frenzied at times (“Breakfast Eggs” and “Diversion”), only to slow to stoner-rock speed under the multi-megaton Sabbath-like riffs of tracks like “Baby Big Man (I Want A Mommy)” and album closer, “The Magazine.”
As good as the other guitarists were, it was sonic bliss whenever Hanson stepped out from behind the keyboards and added a third guitar. The rhythm section of Cronin (who’s released three excellent garage/power pop leaning solo albums himself) and Burrows provided a thundering foundation for Segall and all that noise.
The rest of the band’s set featured older material from Segal’s extensive back catalog – “Thank God For Sinners,” the title track from “Manipulator” and a sludge-tastic “Spiders.” A fan’s sign reading “Finger Me, Ty” was answered by “Finger” from 2010’s “Melted.” The roughly 100-minute set closed with “The Feels,” another track from 2014’s “Manipulator.”
The occasional (and consistently incorrect) music press prediction claiming that “guitar bands are on their way out,” first appeared back in the early 60s, just in time to convince numerous record labels to turn down the Beatles. If that prediction’s finally true, as some are claiming again, someone forgot to tell Ty Segall and the Muggers. Given the set Segal and company thrashed out at the Gothic, you’d have a difficult time convincing the hot, sweaty throngs whose ears got melted last night.
