Tame Impala Light It Up At Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl
For one single night on Planet Earth, there was only one place to be, and that was seeing Tame Impala at Los Angeles’ most famous venue, the Hollywood Bowl. Putting on the most memorable shows is part of what the band does best, but there was an extra glimmer of greatness due to just how iconic the setting really was. If they ever come to a city near you, don’t hesitate, you must go!
The night started out wonderfully with an emphatic performance from opener, Perfume Genius, who ultimately set the tone for the night with all the sights and sounds that you could possibly imagine. As the sun had just finished setting, the entirety of the performance became this little pocket of majestic atmosphere that the crowd took to quite quickly. Covering the entirety of their discography and including all the hits from No Shape and Set My Heart On Fire Immediately, we can only assume that all the real Perfume Genius fans out there in the crowd were satisfied with Michael Alden Hadreas’ energetic performance.
On to the main event though, like always the anticipation before a Tame Impala show is one that we know quite well. All attendees who have witnessed it in the past can attest to that anxiety-bursting feeling of what’s to come, but it’s the uninitiated that we’re jealous of who get to experience the spectacle for the first time.
Opening up the show with The Slow Rush’s opener “One More Year” was the perfect tone setter and set up for a great night of course. Following it with more TSR tracks like “Borderline” and “Posthumous Forgiveness” was a total treat as well. The thing for us is that we truly don’t feel like a Tame Impala show has started until “Elephant” is played. If you know, you know, but once those lasers from all angles displayed over the Hollywood Bowl is when you know the show has officially begun and there’s no turning back. If you weren’t a fan before, we confidently feel that this mid-set song could convert anyone who’s on the fence of surrendering themselves to this rabid fan base.
Running through other Lonerism tracks like “Mind Mischief” and our personal favorite “Apocalypse Dreams” are songs that of course cannot be missed, but it was the almost end of set treat of hearing “Keep On Lying” that legitimately had us screaming out loud, mainly considering the fact that that songs never gets played. Extending the track to nearly 7 minutes and even including a break down in the middle that featured a bit of The Doors’ “Light My Fire” was a total surprise and our main takeaway that this show was seriously something special. We can only assume that “Keep On Lying” was swapped out for the regular setlist track of “Runway Houses City Clouds”, but there’s zero complaint on our end due to the rareness of the switch.
Ending things on “The Less I Know The Better” and the set closer “One More Hour” was a true display of artistry across all ends. We know Kevin Parker tends to get a majority of the credit for his music and that’s obviously reasonable, but the band behind him is what brings these songs alive from start to finish. We’ll happily give credit to Jay Watson, Dominic Simper, Julien Barbagallo, and Cameron Avery for their always fantastic work on their respective instruments.
Wrapping this up and giving one more plea to catch the band if they’re in a city near you, it’s one of the most amazing experiences any human could ever witness in a live setting. Don’t miss out on what could potentially be the best night of your entire life.
