Show Review: Tame Impala Puts On a Party-like Performance

By Amber Garcia, Staff Writer

Artist: Tame Impala 

Venue: TD Garden

When: Wednesday, March 16th

It was a beautiful city night in Boston on Wednesday, March 16th. The TD Garden overflowed with young teens and young adults eager for Tame Impala to take the stage, many running up the escalators to their seats.  

PRE-SHOW PARTY

Shayna McHayle, known as “Junglepussy” took the stage ahead of Tame Impala’s main act. The rapper is most known for her song “Trader Joe” from the album JP3. The New York-raised artist’s tone and tenacity show through her music. As voiced from her stage name, the artist believes in the power of sexuality as a woman, which is shown through her music. 

Starting off the show with “I Just Want It” McHayle’s energy was strong and came paired with equally compelling visuals. Images and videos from her music videos played on the screen behind her. The artist danced to her music like she was at a party, allowing the crowd to try and match her energy. 

She sang several tracks from her latest album Jp5000.  A more instrumental collection featuring a sultry, soft singing style, Jp5000 showcases a different sound from her past songs. When singing her most popular song, “Trader Joe” she sang the lyrics, “We don’t fuck he just see me on tour with Tame Impala.” The artist kept her energy all throughout the set, an applause-worthy accomplishment.

THE SLOW RUSH TOUR BEGINS

“This is your brain on Rushium,” the gimmick video played before the members came onto the stage. Delving into the theme of the show, the video showcased a woman explaining concert members were about to experience the drug Rushium, a fake drug showcased on Tame Impala’s merch and website. While a gag, the effect proved real — concertgoers were in euphoria throughout the show. 

Tame Impala, the Australian native Kevin Parker, came onto the stage along with his touring band. Synths at hand, the show began. 

Parker started off the show with his song, “One more year” as the venue was lit up by a massive overhead setup, and synced with beautiful audio that echoed throughout the Garden. “One More Year” comes off of Parker’s latest album The Slow Rush, released in 2020. The album has themes of time, things moving slow, and things passing by, all of which are more relevant than ever. Having been released at the beginning of the pandemic, it was a long but worthwhile wait to witness the tour for the album. 

SEAMLESS VISUALS & TRANSITIONS

The band seamlessly merged between more vocal songs and more riff-infused sonic moments. All the while, the performance came alongside beautiful visuals. The screen showcased waves crashing at times, alien abductions, and strobing lights. At one point in the show, you could see the light ring coming down onto the stage as if it was going to take the band members into space. 

“The Moment” and “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” were met with the most hype as these are the notable fan favorites. Later, as he started to play “Elephant” from the 2012 album Lonerism, Kevin Parker provoked the crowd, “Shall we get crazy?” 

CONFETTI AND LASERS HELP CREATE A PARTY-LIKE ATMOSPHERE

By the time Tame Impala finished off the show with their traditional confetti and laser show, all fans were up on their feet, dancing. The crowd chanted “Kevin, Kevin, Kevin,” as they waited for the encore. For one of their final songs, they sang “The Less I know The Better.“ A wave of hands was created by the audience, jumping from the pit.

Tame Impala closed the show with “One More Hour,” their last song from The Slow Rush. The crowd again was met with confetti shooting from both sides of the stage, encapsulating the party-like-atmosphere.

The whole show was an art piece. From the beautiful colors and visuals to the thoughtfully set out lights and lasers, Tame Impala took what a concert is to a whole new level.