Tame Impala unveil new jams in LA despite faulty PA system

Tame Impala //
Shrine Auditorium – Los Angeles
November 12th, 2014 //

When neo-psychedelic rockers Tame Impala announced in mid-August that they would be hitting the road this fall for a select number of U.S. dates, there was hope among fans that the Western Australia outfit would be using its nine-date run to test out some new material for a third full-length album.

After all, the Perth-based band led by 28-year-old mastermind Kevin Parker had already toured extensively over the past two years in support of its sophomore LP Lonerism, so surely there had to be a good reason why it was returning to the U.S. this month for only four shows, including three on the West Coast.

But while the motive behind Tame Impala’s mini-tour remained unclear, LA welcomed back Parker and his four sidekicks with open arms at the Shrine Auditorium, as they walked out on stage to a pre-recorded remix of Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” and quickly saluted the more-than-appreciative crowd.

And by the second song of the night, they were doing exactly what their fans had hoped they would do, introducing a new tune, one that they debuted four months ago during a performance in the UK at Manchester Albert Hall. What followed weren’t new, fully conceptualized cuts per say, but the quintet kept the room on its toes, offering extended versions of “Sestri Levante” and “Endors Toi” before later uncorking an even newer jam toward the end of the band’s 14-song set.

Yet, for as important a moment as this was for Tame Impala — Parker said at one point that the gig was the largest the band had ever played as a headliner thanks to the Shrine’s 6,300-person capacity — technical issues during “Alter Ego” stemming from a faulty PA system unfortunately put a damper on everything that had come before it.

With the brief delay between songs serving unconventionally as the band’s encore break, Parker and company shook off some nerves and finished strong, saving some of their best for last, including the dreamy, Pink Floyd-esque “Apocalypse Dreams” and hit single “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards,” which drew quite a bit of scrutiny from the music journalism world earlier this year.

Taking a page out of 60’s psychedelia, Tame Impala closed things out with the heavily experimental, far from succinctly-titled “Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control,” waving goodbye to Angelinos afterward for most likely the last time before they return to the studio.

Setlist:
Be Above It, New Song, Solitude Is Bliss, Sestri Levante, Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind?, It’s Not Meant to Be, Why Won’t They Talk to Me?, Elephant, Endors Toi/Jam, Oscilly, Mind Mischief, Half Full Glass of Wine, Newer Jam, Alter Ego

Encore:
Apocalypse Dreams, Feels Like We Only Go Backwards, Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control