It’s been one hell of a year for Tame Impala.
Kevin Parker spent the first half of 2012 recording in a Paris apartment, while the rest of his bandmates criss-crossed the globe, winning over audiences and critics alike with their glam-tinged side project, Pond.
Tame Impala’s appearance at Splendour in the Grass in late July had been their only Australian show for 2012. But that was before Lonerism, and in the few short months following, Parker and his friends have managed to conquer most of the known world with the album.
So after two months of overwhelming critical praise and sold out shows across Europe and the U.S., Tame Impala have returned to Australia for their well-deserved victory lap.
First stop was Melbourne’s Forum for two sold out shows, with old Perth friends The Growl opening.
Armed with two drummers and a double bass player, The Growl’s intent was unadulterated rhythm. Their songs swaggered forward powerfully, with gritty melodies playing second fiddle to their hulking, rhythmic propulsions.
Their frontman too was all handclaps and hip thrusts, giving him a striking resemblance to Jim Morrison; a similarity all the more obvious during a chorus mentioning wanting to die at twenty-seven.
After busting out an explosive rendition of Son House’s ‘John the Revelator’ towards the end of their set, they left having well and truly won over the eager crowd.
Despite their penchant for psychedelic freakouts and longwinded sonic noodling, Tame Impala make for a rather no-nonsense live act. They don’t have the desire (or the budget) of Roger Waters to create great visual landscapes to accompany their aural adventures; nor do they cavort around the stage like rock stars.
Instead, the newly expanded five-piece quietly walked onstage and opened their set with Lonerism opener ‘Be Above It’. An interesting number live, combining and sampled drums, with the repeated vocal sample being handled by former drummer-turned synth player, Jay Watson. They then kicked into Innerspeaker lead single ‘Solitude Is Bliss’, which was met with great enthusiasm as a large huff of pot smoke billowed out atop the crowd.Usually bands would save their biggest singles for later on in the piece, but then again, Tame Impala aren’t your usual band.
It’s not until after ‘Endors Toi’ and ‘Lucidity’ that Parker addresses the audience at length. He wasn’t interested in playing up any kind frontman notions, no grandiose “how we all feeling tonight?!”
Instead he politely mentioned how thrilled the band is to be playing the first night of the Australian tour, and giving a shout out to their support act. They interestingly opt for the one-two punch of ‘Elephant’ and ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’ halfway through their set.
The first was played quickly, featuring a drum solo, and brief freeform jazz break for good measure; while the latter was introduced as the band’s “slow jam” and met with rapturous applause.
Usually bands would save their biggest singles for later on in the piece, but then again, Tame Impala aren’t your usual band.
The latter half of the set was devoted to parts of their catalogue, which lend themselves to lengthy sonic explorations. Lonerism offerings included ‘Mind Mischief’ and ‘Music to Walk Home By’; while Innerspeaker cut ‘Alter Ego’ proved one of the set highlights, with new drummer Julien Barbagallo showing his worth.
‘Desire Be Desire Go’ was infused with a brief but tantalising break, before Watson announced their last song, ‘Apocalypse Dreams’. Another well-constructed space rock epic, before they quietly left the stage with a “goodbye” and a wave.
They weren’t gone for long though. Parker explained that they don’t usually do encores (Oh I’ll bet you say that to all the crowds, Kevin), before launching into ‘Half Full Glass of Wine’.
It proved to be both their biggest sing-along as well as their longest and most rewarding indulgent jam. Shifting into a propulsive, euphoric krautrock groove before the song’s final chorus – the crowd was right there with them.
Eyes were shut, faces skyward, and mouths agape; while others watched the band fulfil their duties intently. They finally kick back into the final chorus, and are done.
Parker commented towards the end of the set that through Facebook analytics, he can see that Melbourne contains more Tame Impala fans than any other city (predominantly aged between 18-24); and it shows, far from a couple of years ago when they were a lot of people’s favourite ‘secret’ band.
Tame Impala have managed to be a rare crossover hit without suffering any backlash from their early admirers. There are young couples, gym junkies, and girls with fake tans standing next to The Drones’ Dan Luscombe and Oh Mercy’s Alexander Gow. Yet each and every one of them would have walked away from The Forum even bigger Tame Impala fans than when they went in.
Check out the photo gallery of Tame Impala’s show at The Forum here.
