For the unfamiliar, Tame Impala are band from Perth, Australia with three albums and an EP under their belt. They have been acclaimed for modernizing the sounds of classic psychedelic rock bands such as Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin. While maintaining a consistent lineup for playing live, Tame Impala’s songs are written and recorded solely by frontman Kevin Parker. Parker is known for writing infectiously catchy grooves, with lyrics dealing with relationships and being an introvert.

 

The crowd was warmed up with only one opening act, a man by the name of Benjamin Booker. While I was not familiar with his work, my friend was and informed me that Booker had previously played with Jack White. I was impressed with Booker’s skill, likening his bluesy sound to the likes of Jimmy Page, and to a few people in the crowd, a young Hendrix. The latter comparison is their words, not mine. While I admired Booker’s undeniable ability to shred on guitar, I felt many of the songs in the set consisted of brief moments of mind-blowing shredding jams, followed by some extended weird, noisy fills. It made it a little hard to tell when the songs ended and when a new song started. Still, I definitely enjoyed Benjamin Booker’s set and left interested to look deeper into his catalog.

 

Tame Impala kicked off their set with the lead single, “Let It Happen” off their most recent album, 2015’s Currents. Right away, I knew that in spite of a similar set and stage, this was not the same show I had already seen on the previous leg of Tame Impala’s U.S. tour. I previously caught the band when they last came to Michigan. While I felt they were incredible, others criticized the band for being stiff and unenergetic. Some said that they felt they could’ve just stayed home, spin their records, and had the same experience. This was certainly not the case here. Kevin Parker interacted with the fans a lot more, used the space on stage to his advantage, and the band experimented with the jams, putting interesting spins on their longer songs, really changing things up to get the fans in attendance excited. They also added confetti cannons, and let’s be honest, that makes everything more fun.

 

If you’re not sold on confetti cannons, Tame Impala is worth catching live just for their light show. The band plays in front of a gigantic light projection that creates a spectacle of the entire color spectrum, putting any EDM festival to shame. They made use of a video synthesizer, which allowed the light projections to sync up to the music being played. Tame Impala did what every great live band should do, and that’s go the extra mile for a live show. Obviously the music is priority, but it’s important to go beyond that to create an experience that covers all the human senses. They gave the audience things you can’t replicate by only listening to the music.

 

On the musical side of things, Tame Impala’s set was fairly well rounded, though tapered from new to old material. I won’t spoil the set, but they played seven songs from Currents, five from Lonerism, and three from Innerspeaker, plus a cover song. Given that they’re touring in support of Currents, it was safe to assume they would play that album pretty heavily. Despite being largely an electronic/pop record, the songs off Currents translate extremely well when performed with a live band. I couldn’t resist the infectious music that demanded the entire crowd to dance. The rest of the set incorporated many fan favorites from the two previous records, so there’s no way a fan could leave disappointed. Even if they didn’t play your favorite deep cut, they played enough of their hits, and played them in such a way that you could be nothing short of astounded. Just as I had felt the last time I saw them play, the atmosphere was contagious, the happiness was electric. All around me I heard during the beginning of every song “Yes!” “This is my favorite song!” “I was hoping they’d play this one!” While the diehard fan in me wishes they would play “The Bold Arrow of Time” just once for me, I can’t say I was anything less than totally in love with the music played.

Tame Impala is a must-see band. Kevin Parker is carrying the torch for the spirit of rock n roll in 2016. I don’t care what kind of music you listen to, I encourage stepping outside your comfort zone with an open mind. I ensure that you will not leave disappointed. It was enough for me to drive five hours out of state to experience.  If Tame Impala is coming anywhere near you soon, make sure you don’t miss it!