Three years ago, the friend I brought along tonight saw Tame Impala play in a scunge ridden hole in the wall at Hoxton, to about fifty of London’s most in-the-know drop-outs. Oh how things have changed. The hordes were out in force tonight, Kevin Parker and Co. pulling an apparently sell-out crowd to the Enmore.
Brisbane’s The John Steel Singers have their live set nailed down at the moment, ripping through a medley of material from the soon-to-be-released debut that we’re all hanging out for. They didn’t get the crowd quite as revved up tonight as they have in the past, however; a lack of engagement with the audience, coupled with a certain sense of going-through-the-motions combined to prevent lift-off, in spite of the guest appearance by Tame Impala drummer Jay Watson (double kit action! woo!) for signature track ‘Rainbow Kraut’. Perhaps the band are saving it up for their album launch tour – or the crowd simply hadn’t had enough bevvies.
A half hour later and Perth’s Tame Impala amble onto stage, blowing straight through ‘It Is Not Meant To Be’ and ‘Solitude Is Bliss’. The band have a tendency to play their songs considerably slower live than the recorded versions – and these songs in particular – and the results are laid-back, verging on horizontal.
Fortunately, those unable to concentrate on anything else (hi, how’s it going) could simply sit back and pick out shapes (the ABC logo, love hearts and the marshmallow man from Ghostbusters were all observed) in the synchronised projections that accompanied the expansive, abstract jams that filled out bulk of the show. Although their cover of ‘Remember Me’ is beginning to reach its use-by date, it was great to hear ‘Glass Half Full Of Wine’ off the Tame Impala EP.
But if the JSS had difficulty engaging with this crowd, a spotlight-illumined Kevin Parker barely tried, a tight sense of scripted control emanating from his corner of the stage, accompanied by the odd monosyllabic grunt. An almost total lack of affect succeeded in keeping an entire theatre of fans at arm’s length – not that they seemed to realise. Tame Impala make admirable music. Bloody difficult to warm to, but.
First published in The Brag, Iss. 385, September 25th 2010
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