It may be hard to believe but, the last time we saw Tycho in New York City was three years ago back in the fall of 2014. We were there for his stellar set at Terminal 5 and were beyond thrilled to hear he was returning to NYC for not one, but a two-night run at the newly opened Brooklyn Steel.
The mastermind behind Tycho, Scott Hansen, is out on the road with his band in support of his absolutely fantastic new album Epoch which was released digitally early last year and physically this year via Ghostly International. Along for the ride and kicking things off for the night, was Thai-surf infused funk trio, Khruangbin.
The first time I heard of Khruangbin was back in 2013, on Bonobo’s Late Night Tales curated album mix and was immediately hooked. When I saw they were opening for Tycho, I knew the night would be something special. The three-piece’s chilled out vibes groves along on a relaxed pace that never feels rushed, and was a perfect match for opening up the show. Standout tracks from their set included, “A Calf Born in Winter,” “Dern Kala,” and “People Everywhere (Still Alive).” The last full length album the band put out was released in 2015 but we can’t wait to see them return to New York City and can’t wait to see what’s next for the band.
Over the past few album releases, Hansen began including live instrumentation to his songs that have helped give each song a slightly warmer feel and not so cut and paste (sonically speaking). What’s truly incredible is to see just how well that studio recorded mindset translates to a live environment, especially with only a four-piece band. Hansen, with the rest of the band, are able to seamlessly reproduce and mesh countless computer-generated elements with live instrumentation to the point where you don’t know where one element begins and where another ends.
The live band consists of Zachary Brown on guitar and bass, Billy Kim on synths and bass, Rory O’Connor on drums and the mastermind behind Tycho, Scott Hansen alternating between guitar and synths (or both at the same time). The band played a slightly extended set full of his most popular songs, with some old classics, as well as a few surprises. Hansen didn’t talk to the crowd much and mostly let the music do the talking but towards the middle of the first set he hopped on the mic and introduced the first surprise, Thomas Mullarney from Beacon as they ran through a remix Beacon worked on of the song “See.”
Before I go any further, I just want to take a quick moment to remind you of the origins of Tycho, if you don’t already know the story. What started out as a side project for Hansen, has turned into a full-fledge live band that now tours the world. Before Tycho became a full time thing, Hansen was a graphic designer for 14 years. He still gets to do design work, especially for Tycho, by outfitting the project with some of the best looking and most cohesive graphics in the game. If you haven’t already seen it, I’d highly recommend reading the in-depth story behind the album art for Epoch he posted on his blog (you won’t be sorry). By designing everything himself (i.e., album art, t-shirts, posters, various other tour merchandise, photo passes, projected visuals for his live set, etc), the overall aesthetic of Tycho remains consistent wherever it may be. This even goes down to the granular level of the projected visuals during his set – specific songs off certain albums that contain similar color schemes, from album art, to the videos playing, which is such crazy attention to detail, I’m not sure anyone even notices it.
The last song in the first set was the title track off the most recent album, Epoch. The near six-minute track flows in and out of a driving baseline that thumps the entire way through the song and slowly builds up each sonic element. Its position within the setlist was perfect – the track felt more lively than the studio recording, which had everybody in the venue dancing along and definitely left the crowd wanting more. The strangest thing happened next, which was a literal intermission. This wasn’t an encore break, but a legit break of at least ten minutes that the band took before coming back out to play six more songs before the actual encore. After the break, Hansen hopped back on the mic when they came back and asked the crowd, Hhey guys! how was your break?”
The second set after the intermission started off with the dreamy standout track from Epoch, “Receiver” which hit the ground running and never looked back. The then 1-2-3 ending of the second set was an unapologetic force to be reckoned with, consisting of his most recent hits “Awake,” “Horizon,” and closing things out with Epoch single, “Division.” The band walked off stage and then returned again for a one song encore of “Montana,” a song off his last album that was the perfect way to cap the night. The song was a louder, more dance-driven take on the song that had an energy to it that was absolutely unmatched to the studio recording. At the end of the song, Hansen and the rest of the band put down their instruments, waved to the crowd and said goodnight. When we saw the band in 2014 we didn’t think it’d be this long between shows in New York City, so we’re hoping Tycho comes back really soon.
Find Tycho’s setlist posted below, along with photos from his set and openers Khruangbin.
Tycho Setlist:
1. Glider
2. Spectre
3. Daydream
4. Source
5. PIP
6. A Walk
7. L
8. See
9. Hours
10. Epoch
– intermission-
11. Receiver
12. Ascension
13. Rings
14. Awake
15. Horizon
16. Divison
Encore:
17. Montana
Khruangbin:
Tycho:
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