Tame Impala, Hammersmith Apollo - music review

Tame Impala's wild show had soaring choruses, earworm melodies and proggish backing
3 July 2013

Of all the types of music you expect shy young men to create in their bedrooms, psychedelic rock perhaps isn't one of them. Yet that's exactly what Kevin Parker has done under the guise of Tame Impala.

Two critically acclaimed albums in, the Australian is now popular enough to pack out the 5,000-capacity Hammersmith Apollo — with help of his four-piece band — and it was easy to see why.

Set opener Solitude is Bliss announced the evening’s predominant themes: soaring choruses, earworm melodies and proggish backing.

Endors Toi, from Tame Impala’s brilliant Lonerism LP, followed on a wave of clattering drums and cryptic lyrics. “In the morning you’ll find real life was such a grind,” sang Parker, sounding like LSD-era John Lennon.

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, given that Parker is from Perth, one of the most isolated cities on the planet, his lyrics often convey a sense of loneliness.

“I wanted her but she doesn’t like the life I lead … sitting around smoking weed,” he sang on It’s Not Meant To Be. If the aroma inside the venue was anything to go by, however, one suspects that the crowd may have been a little more sympathetic to Parker’s stoner lifestyle.

Elsewhere, Elephant was a stampede of glam-rock guitars and rapid-fire lyrics, while Feels Like We Only Go Backwards nodded to Beaches Boys and House.

Best of all, though, was Half Full Glass Of Wine, a juggernaut of a song that sent arms skywards and ribcages rattling. Tame Impala; wild show.

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