There is a moment before Ty Segall takes the stage at the Metro Theatre in Sydney when the room seems to tighten, anticipation coiling itself into something physical. Segall has never been a static figure. Across seventeen albums, he has refused permanence, shape-shifting between garage rock insurgent, glam futurist and psychedelic experimentalist. Tonight, he arrives carrying the weight and volatility of Possession, his latest dispatch.
Support arrives early with R.M.F.C, whose stripped-back abrasion establishes the tone of the evening, followed by New Zealand’s Earth Tongue. The heavy psych-rock two-piece deliver a dense barrage of heavy riffs courtesy of guitarist Gussie Larkin, propelled along by Ezra Simons’ kinetic drumming.
When Segall steps into the light alongside his band, there is no ceremony. The guitars arrive first, distorted and immediate, Segall leaning into the instrument like it owes him something. The sound is enormous without becoming blunt, every note deliberate, every shift in tone purposeful.
Tracks from Possession translate with particular force in this setting. What feels expansive on record becomes physically imposing live, Segall’s burnt-filament guitar tones cutting clean through the room. His voice remains steady, almost detached, anchoring the chaos around him.
The Metro Theatre has become something else entirely tonight, a space reshaped by volume, tension and release. It reinforces what has remained clear throughout his career. Ty Segall does not revisit old ground. He moves forward, continuously reshaping his sound, leaving each room permanently altered in the process.
The tour continues to Melbourne, Barwon Heads and Golden Plains, go HERE for tickets.
Images Deb Pelser
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