Review: Ambient Electronic Icon Tycho Dazzles at Surprise SF Show

To celebrate last Friday’s release of new album, Weather, downtempo organic music project Tycho played a surprise show at The Independent Tuesday evening; to the delight of fans looking for an early weekday adventure. Except for the DJ sets by Popscene creator Aaron Axelsen before and during a brief mid-show break, Tycho owned the entire night.

Photos: Tycho Performing Entire New Album Weather at The Independent

Led by Scott Hanson and backed by a trio of instrumentalists, Tycho’s music is the pinnacle of chill, electronic music. They spent the first half set blissfully navigating through earlier albums like Dive and Awake. But for the second half set, Tycho turned to the tracks on Weather, and cruised through the album in sequence. During the entire show, video projections pulsed kaleidoscopic visuals of Tycho’s signature triangle logo, inter-stitched with mesmerizing patterns and landscapes. All in all, between the two sets, Tycho’s magical time on stage stretched past the two-hour mark.

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Seeing him at The Independent was such a treat for all who’d found a way to get into the sold-out show that had been announced only a day before. And while he spent a minimal amount of time interacting with the crowd, a heartfelt moment came when Scott mentioned that Tycho’s played The Independent more than any place in the world and that it “feels like home base.” What shone through in his live performance was Scott’s laid-back, appreciative vibe and everyone in the room ate it up.

And so now, Tycho goes from having not played a live show since last year’s Outside Lands, to embarking on a world tour in support of their new record that will take them into 2020. Audiences worldwide can expect future shows to dazzle; just like last night’s show did… from beginning to end.

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Written by Carlos Olin Montalvo

Follow me @carlosolin