Tame Impala Concert

Tame Impala Concert Review

By: Shaniah Duff

On Monday, October 7^th, Tame Impala electrified an audience of 4,000 at the brand new Mission Ballroom in Denver, Colorado. This was the first time Kevin Parker, the man behind Tame Impala, had been to Denver since his performance at Red Rocks in 2016. Parker has honed in on a new genre of music – mixing the mellow nature of psychedelic rock and the dance infused nature of EDM.

When tickets were released for the show in July, there was widespread controversy because the show had sold out in less than a minute and the venue had oversold tickets, forcing the venue to revoke tickets from scammers. A week later, Mission Ballroom posted that they had revoked too many tickets and would be reselling them for a short period of time. I happened to be on my phone at the exact moment they posted this, and checked to see if any tickets were available out of curiosity. They were. And so I knew I had to buy these tickets to see my favorite artist perform even if it took a plane ticket for me to get there.

Fans started lining up outside the venue up to 6 hours before doors opened and I joined at about 40^th in line 3 hours prior. As I stood outside for 3 hours, I met people from all over the country including visitors from New York, California, and New Jersey, most of whom were attending both performances two nights in a row.

The Turkish psychedelic rock band, Altin Gün, kicked off the first night of their U.S. tour as they opened for Tame Impala Monday night. Their set was filled with minutes long groovy guitar solos and an intricate complexity with contributions from all 6 of their members. Their music surprised most of the audience who had never heard of them before, nor could understand their lyrics, but surprisingly set the stage perfectly for Tame Impala to go on.

When Kevin Parker walked onto stage, the ambience in the room completely changed. The lights shifted colors, smoke spewed in front of the stage, and the crowd was enamored. To kick off the show, Parker played the fan favorite “Let It Happen,” and it did not disappoint the audience. Parker’s setlist consisted mostly of songs from his most recent album in 2015, but he also included his two most recent singles, “Patience” and “Borderline,” which were released this summer in anticipation for the release of a new album for the first time in 4 years. Although the setlist of fan favorites typically stays the same from show to show, Parker is known for including one or two mystery songs from older albums Lonerism and Innerspeaker. The vibe in the crowd was blissful. Fans refrained from talking during/in between songs for over 90 minutes, while engaging in a personal experience between them and Tame Impala. Tame Impala has mastered their live performance of their songs and even expanded on their recordings. Most of their songs had lengthened intros and outros which added to the dreamy experience of Tame Impala music. When the concert ended, confetti poured from the ceilings for several minutes, the lights turned on, and I looked behind me for the first time to see the filled venue of smiling faces. We knew what we experienced would not be able to be put into words.

My impulsive and financially irresponsible decision to see Tame Impala was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. In fact, my friend and I were so mesmerized that we made a pact right there and then to see Tame Impala the next time they performed at this venue – it was more than worth it.

Concert Rating: 10/10.