Live: Tame Impala

Thu May 20 - The Governor Hindmarsh
The Perth psych rockers played to a packed-out Gov on the eve of releasing debut album InnerSpeaker. See how the locals took to the new sounds dished out by this mind-bending quartet.

At the Lorne Falls Festival in 2008, Tame Impala were a mess. Their set consisted of about three 15-minute tracks that aimlessly meandered off into psychedelic wastelands and the three kids onstage seemed far too concerned with indulging themselves in their own sonic wank to worry about entertaining their audience. Needless to say, the mystique of this enigmatic hype band washed off rather quickly.

At The Governor Hindmarsh in 2010, Tame Impala are a much improved band. Maturity as songwriters (or more accurately, songwriter) has given them a better understanding of what sounds good in the heads of others rather than just their own and their live show, as proven tonight, is exponentially better than it used to be.

Upon hitting the stage, the phasered guitar haze of It Isn’t Meant To Be fills out the room like a cloud of weed smoke, seamlessly blending a down-tempoed Desire Be Desire Go. Already the disappointment of 18 months ago has been redeemed.

Everything about their set exudes professionalism and self-assuredness in their art. The arrangements are tight, the band members play as a well-rehearsed, single-minded unit. The songs, now laden with countless effects and filters, exhibit a maturity and depth well beyond the years of chief songwriter Kevin Parker. Even the krautish psychedelic sojourns seem more relevant and meaningful, and actually go somewhere rather than drift off on a sonic acid trip.

In comparison to the newly-released debut album InnerSpeaker, the live show succeeded where the recorded song cannot. While InnerSpeaker gets monotonous at times, in the flesh Tame Impala make sure not to stay on the one course for too long. Even the expansive Jeremy’s Storm builds and builds with increasing layers of effects, rocking out at the appropriate times and exploding in a thrilling finale. On record this brilliant crescendo is way underplayed.

The band members rarely take respite from their instruments. Kevin very seldom engages with the audience and seems uncomfortable when he does. There’s a determined concentration about the way they go about their business that makes them an ever more enthralling live act.

Closing with an extended version of Glass Half Full Of Wine before inviting support act The Silents up on stage for a collaboration on I Don’t Really Mind sealed a damn fine return to form for one of Australia’s most promising up-and-coming bands. At the end there was no encore. They didn’t need one.

Words: Jimmy Bollard
Pic: Benon Koebsch

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