Pop Montreal review: Ty Segall, La Luz & The Nymphets

Gene Simmons may have recently declared that “rock is finally dead,” but chances are he isn’t hip to Ty Segall. Yet. Since the release of Twins in 2012, Ty Segall has often been heralded as one of rock’s saviours, an incredibly prolific garage shredder with an innate knack for crafting perfect pop melodies. His newly-released double-LP, Manipulator (Drag City) is pushing him even further up the rungs of mainstream rock stardom, which was fully evident at Saturday’s beyond sold-out show.

Fans jostled each other just to get a glimpse of Segall discreetly watching La Luz’s opening set from side-stage, and roared when he came out to assist with his band’s changeover between sets. Throughout his set, fans stormed the stage, either for a hug, a kiss (!), or just to awkwardly wave hello. Ty seemed to take it all in stride, even waving off a security guard from ejecting one attention-seeking fan from the stage, who obviously hadn’t received the “stage-diving etiquette” talk yet.

Ty’s set included nearly all of the Manipulator LP, a few tracks from his Ty Segall Band project, and even a Motorhead cover in the encore. The crowd was ballistic the entire time, taking advantage of the lack of a barricade to parade drunkenly across the stage, crowd surf, and pogo wildly throughout his hour-plus set.

With a backing band that included frequent collaborator and fellow pop craftsman Mikal Cronin, Segall ran through the new glam-influenced tracks with utter abandon, including ripping a guitar solo while crowd-surfing, all without missing a note. He mentioned more than once that they would be back “real soon,” and after this barn burner of a set, let’s hope he keeps his word.

Opening the night was a rare performance by Montreal’s own The Nymphets. They ran through a great, albeit short, set of wiry buzz-pop, which quickly won over those smart enough to get there on time. With perfect inter-locking male and female vocals set against a power-pop sound reminiscent of The Buzzcocks or early Elvis Costello, it’s a shame that their hometown shows are so infrequent.

La Luz were up next, four women from Seattle who play a dreamy, slowed-down take on surf music, full of tremble and cooed vocals. It took a while for the crowd to adjust to the band’s moody take on twangy punk, but their enthusiasm was infectious, with keyboardist Katie Jacobson stage-diving mid-song at one point, deciding to give up the keys for the abandon of the crowd. You could see the band laughing about it on-stage, and they seemed to be having as much fun as the crowd, perfectly setting the raucous mood for Segall & co. a short while later.

Check out more pictures from each set below.

Ty Segall 

La Luz 

The Nymphets