Ty Segall came up to Portland, touring his whopping 13th studio album, “Harmonizer,” and the 34-year-old garage rocker hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down more than a decade after his first album dropped. With the release of this 2021 LP, Segall had broken his longest stretch of time off of the release radar with a revamp — for better or for worse.
I grew up around the same town as Laguna Beach’s Golden Boy, Ty Segall, and you know what they say: Some leave Orange County with a bangin’ wife and a record deal and others write for the Daily Emerald.
When he announced a tour stop in Portland, I looked forward to catching Segall in my neck of the woods, but I also felt like a bit of my own hometown pride was on the line with his performance. I shouted into the void, “Show me what you got Blondie; show me what you got,” and Blondie sure showed me something last Friday night at the Crystal Ballroom.
On the drive from Eugene to Portland, I’d been wishing I’d seen him back in the days when his whole schtick was still garage rock centered. “Harmonizer” and the preceding “Fungus II” weren’t the type of Segall I’d previously been about.
The Wasted Shirt, Black Puss and Segall collab, “Fungus II,” felt like the secret love child of King Gizzard’s “Murder of the Universe” and Death Grip’s “The Money Store” — everyone knew about it, but no one wanted to claim it. The latest album, “Harmonizer,” gave me the same vibe for Segall’s career trajectory as “Helium” did for Homeshake: confusing.
Nevertheless, the whir of upbeat voices and the scene of drunk degenerates at the ballroom that night got me pretty stoked to see Segall and The Freedom Band.
The opening band, Oog Bogo — yes, you read that right, Oog Bogo — started things off with vocals that sounded like The Cure and a bassist that bore a striking resemblance to Buddy Holly, if he’d lived to see 30. I wish I could fill you in on their set in less vague terms, but while they jammed, I was testing out the ballrooms’ bouncy floors to prepare myself for Segall. Come hell or highwater, I dubbed the night an evening of dancing.
When Segall and The Freedom Band took the stage, they were bathed in dark purple light and met by hand claps from a stinky crowd. This wouldn’t be a true retelling without mentioning the ripeness of the stench in the room that night. The raunch left me unsure if all of Segall’s fans smell a bit funky or if it’s just the Portland ones. Anywho, to the music.
The band opened things up with the most popular play off their new album, “Whisper.” Somewhere in the middle of this first song, I began to realize the album I’d once ragged on translated better live than it did on record. Of course, that was semi-expected considering how on-the-money his past live albums have been.
For just about the first half of the show, the band rocked with tracks from “Harmonizer.” To finish off this wave of new songs, Segall brought his wife Denee on stage to sing “Feel Good,” which they co-wrote along with another new album track called “Waxman.”
Here’s when things started to heat up. Segall dove back into the old stuff and sang us the title track off 2013’s “Sleeper” followed by some “Freedom Goblin” realness to get the energy up for the end of the night.
Considering I’d missed his live take on “Manipulator” for the line at the little girl’s room, I’d declared that time was of the essence and made my way to the pit for the remainder of the set. Up front everyone was squeezed body to body, and I was bathed in more of that awesome stench I mentioned prior. From my new vantage point, I caught sight of the band chumming it out between songs and catching each other’s eyes while they played. It was pretty wholesome to see the warmth radiate from Segall to his longtime bassist and collaborator Michael Kronin and vice versa. The guys were duking it out along with the rest of The Freedom Band, and the filthy crowd was eating it up.
Although on record “Harmonizer” wasn’t what I was looking for in a comeback after the groups longest hiatus ever, Segall and The Freedom Band did not disappoint last Friday night. Would I have preferred to catch him a few tours back? Sure. Did Segall still stroke my sense of our neighborhood’s relevance? Absolutely.
