Having first seen the Australian psychedelic pop/rockers nail their headline spot last September at End of The Road Festival, I was more than happy to see the announcement of them taking to the stage at London's Alexandra Palace two nights in a row.
Fellow Australian rock three-piece Jagwar Ma supported the show, getting the party started with bass fuelled rock anthems such as 'Man I Need' and 'Come Save Me'. I often feel that booking agents get it wrong with support acts being nothing of a similar genre to the main artist but this was spot on. They set the buzzing atmosphere, teasing the crowd with the highly anticipated sounds of fun dreamy rock. We were also stood right next to the sound deck, so had the added treat of watching the engineer make the sound of electronic trancey hooks echo around the venue.
Being my first experience of live music at Ally Pally, Tame Impala certainly set the bar high for future gigs there. They opened the set with appropriately named 'Intro' accompanied by mesmerising graphics as a backdrop, before transitioning into the explosive seven minute hit 'Let It Happen'. They refreshed my memory of how great they were last time I saw them, encapsulating everything that is remembered about the 'Summer of Love' 70s psychedelic era.
You could feel that the band, fronted by Kevin Parker, were investing all their energy and love into the last night of their European tour and the crowd were emulating that same energy back, with the sound of every fan roaring along to the whole set list. Not only were the band on point but the lighting and sound engineers played a big part in making the night an experience as opposed to an ordinary gig. The colours and streams of light suited the mood of each track along with the music floating from left to right out of the speakers at just the right points in the songs.
I didn't have myself down as a huge fan of psychedelic rock, but Tame Impala have become the exception.
Written by Hannah Jolley
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