SLO Town turns into Fuzz City as Ty Segall takes over
Dylan Koch is a content writer and disc jockey for KCPR. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group.
I am going to be honest: I left this concert early.
It was a sea urchin that kept me from staying the long haul with Ty Segall and his band at SLO Brew Rock on Oct. 19. Or, rather, the tiny piece of sea urchin that was entering its 36th hour of stillness in the bottom of my right heel. That’s what I get for being a distracted tidepooler.
As standing in one place became more and more painful, I was forced to say goodbye to Segall and Co. 25 minutes in and, like a rock n’ roll vagrant diving off a rock n’ roll freight train, let the remainder of their set go on without me.
But I don’t want your pity or your concern! I did not come away empty-handed. My short time at the concert was a potent microdose of heavy-duty, super-fuzzy psychedelic guitar music. From the moment they took the stage, Segall and the boys gave it their all.
Segall and the effortlessly cool Emmett Kelly traded riffs with the intensity of two mountain lions tumbling down a rocky slope, locked in an intimate embrace of teeth and claws.
The noble Mikal Cronin anchored things on the Rickenbacker bass, which he had cinched almost to his chin, while Evan Burrows slashed away at the drum kit. Cronin and Kelly provided charmingly off-key harmonies to Segall’s impassioned yelps.
In the midst of this chaos, Ben Boye, the band’s most valuable player, sat statue-like at his synthesizer with a quizzical look etched on his face. His hands barely moving, he provided a thundering backdrop to the feedbacking string section, and with it a kind of drama that no amount of guitars could ever replicate.
This was the last show on the band’s 2025 North American tour in support of “Possession,” Segall’s hot new record that came out this May. The home stretch exhaustion was visible in every member of the five-piece band, from their sloppy outfits to the bags under their eyes.
They easily could have backed things off, gone through the motions and gotten this last small town brewery date over and done with minimal sweat. But they aren’t those kinds of guys, and this isn’t that kind of band.
“And what about the crowd?” you might ask. Well, let me tell you. The crowd was, in one word, old. The 40-50-year-old hipster population of San Luis Obispo County came out in full force for Ty Segall! I enjoyed the vibe in the audience, which was restrained, IPA-focused and very polite. I even ran into an acquaintance, who paid me an unexpected compliment that totally made my day. Does fuzz bring out the best in people? I wouldn’t rule it out.
Segall and the guys aren’t playing again in California until May 2026. But if my experience at SLO Brew (minus the urchin) is any indication, it will be well worth the wait.
