Pickathon 2018 is officially less than two months away, meaning now’s the perfect time to reminisce about last year, dust off those wooden sporks, and mentally prepare for the wildest, woodsiest weekend of the year. And what better outlet for Pickathon nostalgia than our ongoing Starlight series, which spotlights performances from the festival’s nocturnal stage.
One of last year’s most memorable Starlight sets came from Pickathon veteran/garage rock king Ty Segall and the Freedom Band—bassist Mikal Cronin, drummer Charles Moothart, guitarist Emmett Kelly, and pianist Ben Boye—who ripped through “Caesar” (from his 2010 album Melted) to a sea of gyrating worshippers.
Though Segall is always magnetic onstage (even when he’s baby-talking and drooling on the audience), the center of the chaos here is Boye, who’s absolutely banging on the keys while the rest of the group tries to keep up and the bolo tie-wearing Segall wails “Why must the people cry for me?” It’s the kind of spectacle that blows your mind and then hangs out there forever.
Check out previous episodes of our ongoing Pickathon Starlight Series:
• Episode 1: Marlon Williams
• Episode 2: Brent Cobb
• Episode 3: Huun-Huur-Tu
• Episode 4: William Tyler
• Episode 5: Jalen N’Gonda
• Episode 6: The Last Artful, Dodgr
• Episode 7: Wolf People
• Episode 8: Ron Artis II