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Gig Review: Tame Impala @ Hammersmith Apollo - 25 June 2013
Indie | Wednesday 26th June 2013 | Will
Tame Impala managed keep their sharp rise to fame quiet. After a positively, but minimally received debut album in 2010, Innerspeaker, fans could be forgiven for thinking that they were following a band destined for the old cliché of ‘cult classic’. However, 3 years on and last night’s show at the 5,000 capacity Hammersmith Apollo was sold out. Indeed, the success of 2012’s follow-up LP, Lonerism, has catapulted them into the big leagues . . . and deservedly so.
Taking to the stage at 9:05pm they opened their set with fan favourite ‘Solitude Is Bliss’; what follows is 90 minutes of swirling oscillations and hypnotic pulses. Older, more guitar driven favourites ‘Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind?’ and ‘Alter Ego’ stand up alongside more recent, 80s synth-tinged tracks such as ‘Mind Mischief’ and ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’ so neatly that you’d forget there was a two year break between them. In fact, the latter already feels like it has achieved some kind of ‘classic’ status and garnishes such a sing-a-long that there isn’t a dry eye in the house.
Kevin Parker truly is a master of his trade. The brains behind the entire band, guitar tone virtuoso, shy yet captivating frontman, he simply doesn’t set a foot wrong all evening. Whether it be his reserved audience chat, or his wild flailing and dancing, he is fully engaging throughout.
A tight and formidable live act, Tame Impala’s set sways in and out of conceivability, yet you always feel assured they know what they are doing. Cleverly and intricately orchestrated breakdown sections, like that of ‘Half Full Glass Of Wine’, twist and mutate through many a guise, moving from bass breakdowns, through duel guitar leads before finally residing back into the chorus that it left some 6 minutes earlier.
However, tonight’s highlight certainly has to be the gargantuan ‘Elephant’. Simply introducing the song with a cautious invite of “Feel free to get down to this one”, Kevin Parker launches his band into the heaviest slice of stoner/psychedelia the Apollo has ever seen. The crisp breaks are delivered with military precision, the guitar solos intertwine like musical ivy, while the sound sensitive digital display on the big screen behind them is creating a fantastically trippy visual.
Although the smile Kevin Parker wears is often one of innocence and gratuity, he would be forgiven for donning a smug smirk once in a while. Fantastically taking his already ambitions compositions to new, legal, highs when performing live, Kevin, and the entirety of Tame Impala can be self assured and safe in the knowledge that they are very much at the top of the class in the ‘new psych school’, especially after this evening’s performance.
Content that they inflicted as much hallucinogenic joy as they did temporary tinnitus, Tame Impala finally departed; amid a frenzy of paisley clad cheers.
Set List:
- Led Zeppelin (Intro)
- Solitude Is Bliss
- Jam
- Endors Toi
- It Is Not Meant To Be
- Apocalypse Dreams
- Music To Walk Home By
- Elephant
- Be Above It
- Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
- Auto-Prog
- Keep On Lying
- Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind?
- Oscilly
- Mind Mischief (Abridged Version)
- Alter Ego
- Half Full Glass Of Wine
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- Auto Prog mk.II
- Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control
See amateur footage of ‘Half Full Glass Of Wine’ below:
Will Crosby
