Tame Impala @ The Enmore

Bringing back 70’s style psychedelic rock, Tame Impala hit the Enmore, for a nearly sold-out Thursday night of Mayhem (14th October). Taken hook, line and sinker by their new album ‘Innerspeaker’ I was very excited to see if their live show would be of the same calibre as their recordings… And the sound was amazing.
The soaring guitar riffs filled the theatre like hot air, making everyone’s eyes droop and bodies groove. A smile remained plastered to my face for the entire hour-long set. Their music is infectiously feel-good
and laid back. The bass wanders like a story, guided by the unconcerned vocal lines full of long extended notes and sleepy descents. The drums keep it all exciting interspersed with feisty, distorted guitar solos, but regardless the feel is pleasantly cruisy.

What did bother me was that only the main singer seemed to be lit properly, the rest of the band was in half- light, and the drummer was elusive in complete darkness. They were also quite unexciting to watch as they basically stood there and sang- I mean it is impossible not to dance to their music, or at least sway and yet they remained un-affected… They could have done anything- hopped across the stage, lay on the floor- and the crowd would have loved it… They also quashed any expectations of an encore by announcing before their second last song, that when they left they wouldn’t be coming back out… A strange decision when a thousand people were screaming their name, but they were not swayed and remained safely backstage.

 My pick of the set was their cover of Blue boy’s ‘Remember me’, an excellent version which retains all of the originals’ funkiness but adds a rockier edge. They played almost all their tracks off the new album, executing each to perfection yet deviating enough to keep it interesting. Despite the lack of a ‘performance’ the music itself was totally worth the $40 ticket and their album is still my current No. 1.