Ty Segall @ Fillmore, SF 1/18/13

January 25. 2013 | By Jay Raco

San Francisco has long been thought of as a “soft” city. Hippies, free love, organic granola. No more. In the last decade, the City by the Bay has gotten a darker energy. You can feel it in the neighborhoods from Potrero to the Sunset, and it’s fun. In our experience, SF is edgier than Manhattan, Chicago, and LA right now, and it’s reflective in the music culture. The Bay Area garage scene has become world renowned with bands like Thee Oh Sees, The Fresh and Onlys, Sic Alps and of course, Ty Segall, and Friday night’s show was a coronation of sorts for Ty Segall.

White Fence @ The Fillmore, SF 1/18/13
White Fence

White Fence @ The Fillmore, SF 1/18/13
White Fence

Nick Waterhouse @ The Fillmore, SF 1/18/13
Nick Waterhouse

Nick Waterhouse @ The Fillmore, SF 1/18/13
Nick Waterhouse

The crowd was in force early for opening acts White Fence and Nick Waterhouse, and they weren’t disappointed at all. White Fence played a thoroughly engaging set with their brand of lo-fi pop, and Nick Waterhouse had an awesome soul groove complete with back up singers and dueling saxophones. The audience bobbed along to tracks like “Say I Wanna Know.” Throughout the show, the past and present became blurred with music that sounds like it could have been made at any time during the last 50 years. Nick Waterhouse was thoroughly professional and gracious. He said he’s known Ty since he was 18 and called Ty “the king” of SF in the current era. We couldn’t agree more.

Ty Segall @ The Fillmore, SF 1/18/13
Ty Segall

Ty Segall @ The Fillmore, SF 1/18/13
Ty Segall

Ty came out to tune his guitar before the show, and the site of him on stage got the crowd to cheer. Before long he was back out and they launched into the hard-hitting heavy “Wave Goodbye” and the up-tempo “Tell me What’s Inside Your Heart” from last year’s great LP Slaughterhouse. Segall has always been prolific, but 2012 was truly a breakout year, releasing three great records, two with his own band and one with White Fence as Hair. As Segall thrashed through his impressive catalog, fans started feeling the energy and began some mellow moshing and stage diving.

Ty Segall @ The Fillmore, SF 1/18/13
Ty Segall

Ty Segall @ The Fillmore, SF 1/18/13
Ty Segall

Fans jumped the stage and danced and dove into the crowd. Security freaked out and grabbed one guy, carrying him off stage. Ty went to the security guard mid-song and told him to leave the stage diver alone. After the song he said “You all be safe…and security be cool.” From there one fan after another jumped from the stage into the waiting crowd for a ride. At one point Ty invited his dad on stage, and he ripped on the drums.

Ty Segall @ The Fillmore, SF 1/18/13
Ty Segall

Ty Segall @ The Fillmore, SF 1/18/13
Ty Segall

For an encore, Ty came out with White Fence and played tracks from Hair, and the pace got slow and fuzzy. It was a great way to wind down an eclectic night of music. Long live the king.

Check out the rest of the badass photos HERE.

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