My first show of 2014 just happened to be Toy’s first show in New York City. Not a bad way to kick off the new year.
Toy has been a band I’ve had my eye on since the summer of 2012, when I called them a band to watch. I saw them at SXSW last year and while it was a great set, it was during a hectic part of the festival and I didn’t get to take the show in as much as I would have liked.
Tonight’s performance made up for it. They brought out their chug-along psych-rock with style. Lead by frontman Tom Dougall, Toy are a massive force live, offering fierce, loud, extended freakout jam versions of their tracks. They played a fair share of material from their s/t debut and last year’s Join the Dots. Opener “Left Myself Behind” “Motoring” and “Kopter” were clear highlights, fully formed shoegazy tracks that reminded me of The Horrors in all the best ways.
It was a short set, but one that was stretched out with longer versions of their songs, giving them all the room to take the permances higher and higher, until nearly reaching the brink of explosion. It was a damn impressive way to say hello to New York.
Find some more photos below, as well as the setlist.
Setlist:
1. Left Myself Behind
2. As We Turn
3. Dead & Gone
4. Too Far Gone To Know
5. Kopter
6. Motoring
7. Fall Out Of Love
8. Join The Dots
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