It certainly cannot be said that Tame Impala have shied away from the spotlight. An ever-present name on a festival bill, the Perth psychedelic rock outfit have continued to build their fanbase across the nation and now take the stage in their biggest headline tour to date. The last time they visited Festival Hall, they supported MGMT. They now arrived just days after playing to thousands at Coachella in the States.
Playing to a reasonable crowd, opening act Midnight Juggernauts showcased tunes from their forthcoming album amongst favourites such as Into the Galaxy, Tomorrow and newbie Ballad of the War Machine. Sounding more like the soundtrack to The NeverEnding Story than your regular run-of-the-mill electro-pop act, it was all slamming drum kits, deep, theatrical vocals and tingling keys. The crowd was appreciative but not overexcited – standard, for a support act.
The fans perked up when shadows of Perth’s new favourite rockers formed from the backstage door. Little fanfare accompanied their appearance on stage that held just the bare minimum for performance, an understated attitude that continued throughout the show. The first bars drifted through the air alongside the distinct smell of something higher than those notes – security were on alert.
Kevin Parker – frontman, songwriter and producer extraordinaire – stood barefoot in impossibly skinny jeans, strumming his guitar like it was an extension of his chest. Lost in the music, he sauntered and swayed from melody to jam session as the audience clapped along. It was only after the third song that he stopped to talk to the crowd, clearly stoked they had made it to a venue this big on home soil.
Apocalypse Dreams came next, a Beatles-influenced number that got the crowd jumping. To the left and to the right, seats were vacated in preference for the largely empty side seats in order to dance. Arms flailing dreamily, it was clear behind every closed eye was a kaleidoscope of colours and thoughts and feelings and everything else that went along with an intensely good acid trip in the ‘70s. Before most of this audience was even a thought in their parents’ teenage minds.
Favourites like Solitude Is Bliss, Mind Mischief and Feels Like We Only Go Backwards were dispersed among album tracks and yet more seemingly off-the-cuff jams, while Elephant (arguably their biggest hit to date) fell somewhere in the middle of it all. It was a welcome change, a shift by a band to focus not on the big hits but on their love of playing. It also reminded the audience what Tame Impala are all about – and it’s not about to be compromised.
BY JEN WILSON
Photo credit: Charles Newbury
LOVED: It’s about the music, not the hits.
HATED: Not being on acid.
DRANK: Life.
