Amongst the buried and the Garden of Eternal Love began a two hour intergalactic journey courtesy of Tame Impala, who finished their two night stay at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary. Performing tracks off their new album Currents -“Cause I’m a Man” and “The Less I Know the Better” – combined with classics from InnerSpeaker and Lonerism, the night was an electric explosion of rainbow hues and music. Kevin Parker waltzed about the stage in his signature scarf as members Dominic Simper, Jay Watson, Julien Barbagallo and Cam Avery provided a glittery solar system of sound that was wrapped in dense constellations of synth pulled together with tightly woven drums and hypnotic guitar riffs that proved once again why they’re the leaders of the psychedelic wolf pack.
With the recent release of Parker’s third album Currents and in the middle of a massive tour, Tame Impala is making leaps and bounds, a distant gaze from their humble beginnings in Perth, Australia. After a comical opening performance by Lord Fascinator, Tame Impala began the show with their sugar coated, sparkle track “Let It Happen”, kicking off the night with a bang, and not slowing down until the final firework of “Feels LIke We Only Go Backwards”, which was a satisfying end to their technicolor, face melting set.
If there is a mascot for the struggles and realizations of early adulthood, that face is Kevin Parker. A renegade trailblazer for the underdog, Parker’s fearless and incredibly relatable songwriting came to life on the quintessentially hazy L.A. Friday night, as his touch of honey vocals spun in ringlets through “Alter Ego” that may have been the highlight of the evening, with their mind bending projections providing the crowd with what can only be explained as an out of body experience. Visuals included a moving cell, concentric circles, and a potent light show which synced up with consistent tempo changes that kept the audience on their toes and buzzing with a tangible energy that left an afterglow even after the show was over.
Cascading through an eclectic selection, the band didn’t keep any particular order as they went from the wildly popular “Elephant”, to a more mellow tune from Innerspeaker. Numbers from Currents were met with anticipation as their third opus of an album wanders from their usual reverb-heavy fare, teeming with 80’s influences and Michael Jackson steeped beats that flicker between pulsated pop to slow contorted melodies. Tame Impala’s trippy party continues as they head to the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco and then make their way to Europe for Paredes de Coura in Portugal.
