While Ty Segall and the Muggers show on Feb. 20 was sold out before doors opened, hopeful fans lined up outside One Eyed Jack’s, hoping some generous soul might have an extra ticket.

The show started half an hour late, but when Bottomfeeders finally appeared onstage, all was forgiven. The band struggled to get its mix just right, but still played through a cool set of surf-garage rock. While Bottomfeeders, much like AC/DC, proved itself guilty of using the same riffs in every song. Tunes like “Rare Appeal” and “Caligula,” delivered the big, crunchy hooks the crowd needed to get energized after the delay. It’s a shame the band’s best live songs, particularly these two, are the ones that don’t appear on its Bandcamp page. 

Bottomfeeders was followed by Segall’s touring opener CFM. The band is the project of guitarist Charles Moothart, who has acted as backing musician in previous iterations of Segall’s own live band.  Despite this connection, CFM’s set felt a little out of place, with songs that all seemed too similar — they were almost entirely up-tempo, based around power chords and generic bluesy licks. While Moothart had plenty of stage presence, his bassist and rhythm guitarist seemed to huddle in the corner of the stage, just barely out of the wings.  For the most part, though, the audience seemed content just to see Segall’s old bandmate making music.

Samples of babies crying and keyboardist Cory Hanson’s chaotic synth sounds heralded the arrival of the Muggers onstage. As the band launched into the doomy riff of “Squealer,” Segall shuffled onto the stage, his face concealed by a baby mask. It immediately became clear that this Segall show would fulfill the band’s notoriously wild reputation. The crowd became a mosh pit, with Segall at the edge of the stage, reaching out to grab the heads of anyone in the front row and sing into their faces.

The set leaned heavily on material from the new album. The “yeah, yeah, yeahs,” of “Diversion” made for an excellent crowd sing-along, especially as the lo-fi vocals made a lot of the other lyrics unintelligible in the live setting. Between songs, Segall seemed to withdraw into nonsensical monologues, loosely discussing the benefits of eggs for breakfast as an introduction to the song “Breakfast Eggs.”

Segall’s antics may have been the centerpiece of the show, but his band, dressed in a variety of odd costumes, was equally interesting to watch as it laid down hook after hook for its frontman. The Muggers showed itself to be a well-oiled punk music machine, with indie guitar-lord King Tuff trading dissonant leads with second guitarist Emmett Kelly. Cory Hanson was arguably the band’s MVP of the night, seeming to relish his opportunities to use the variety of weird sounds in his synth arsenal during songs like “Emotional Mugger/Leopard Priestess”, but also switching to guitar to make songs like “Big Baby Man (I Want A Mommy)” even fuzzier. Mikal Cronin also shined as a multi instrumentalist, playing bass for most songs but pulling out a baritone sax later in the set for the bass line of “Squealer Two.” 

The Muggers certainly created a memorable night for the jam-packed crowd. The band came back out for an encore to the delight of its fans, who still yelled out for more music even after the band exited the stage for the second time. While the show had a rough, uneven start, Segall’s set alone created the sort of moment that concert-goers will be able to brag about later.