Tame Impala share their reverie (and two new songs) in trippy pre-Coachella show at the Fox Theater
Michelle Shiers on
1
Fans of Australia’s Tame Impala shrieked and whooped Wednesday night at the Fox Theater in Pomona as roadies dressed in white lab coats prepped the stage like scientists.
- ||| Photos by Michelle Shiers
The Australian band finally appeared to a slowed-down version of ““Can You Feel The Love Tonight” and moved into “It’s Not Meant To Be” from 2010’s “Innerspeaker.”
Frontman Kevin Parker has remained at the helm of the group along with multi-instrumentalists Dominic Simper and Jay Watson, Cameron Avery on bass and Julien Barbagallo on drums. The band have created a shape-shifting brand of psychedelic rock, and the synth-heavy “Why Wont They Talk To Me” and “Mid Mischief” from 2012’s “Lonerism” kept fans roaming in hazy reverie and dancing like absolutely nobody was watching.
One fan was enamored enough to toss a bra up on stage; yes, it had contact info scrawled on it.
Just to add to the trippy motions, projections behind the band were shapes and swirls, a backdrop of patterns that moved with the melodies. New track “Let It Happen” was performed live for the first time to enthusiastic response, followed by “Solitude Is Bliss” and “Be Above It” featuring flexible jam sessions and kaleidoscopic colors. Predictably, the greatest audience response came at the first two notes of single “Elephant,” during which a few managed to crowd-surf.
If you were lucky enough to see through the the cell-phone wielding arms, you could behold a group completely comfortable in their fuzzy guitar tones and pounding rhythm made even stronger by the otherworldly synth and a rabid drum solo perfectly texturizing their style. Parker warned his vehement admirers “Right, once again we might totally screw this next song up” and then flawlessly executed the gorgeously hazy soundscape of “Cause I’m A Man,” another new song from their forthcoming album “Currents.”
Parker acknowledged that he was particularly nervous about this show, but from an onlooker’s perspective, he seemed just as comfortable wandering inside his own musical mind as he was to let us join him. Tame Impala closed the main set with “Apocalypse Dreams,” boasting the unifying lyrics “This could be the day that we push though/ It could be the day that all our dreams come true/ For me and you.” And for many fans who had waited years to see the band, it was true.
Returning for an encore, Parker noted “They booked this as a warmup show to Coachella, but this doesn’t feel like a warmup … This feels like this is it!” Which was followed by someone screaming “F*ck Coachella!”
The celestial “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” from “Lonerism” was the night’s strongest sing-along, and they finished their set with the aptly titled “Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control.”
Tame Impala were preceded by Oklahoma indie-rockers Broncho.
[…] deserved, but perhaps the one it needed right now. Following fellow Australians and young hotshots Tame Impala on the festival’s big stage, Johnson and Angus Young gave it all they had, and it was more […]