Tame Impala @ Fonda Theater, LA 11/17/12

Opening duties were fulfilled with assurance by The Amazing (from Sweden). Surely many an eyebrow was raised in the jaded LA audience upon seeing the band’s name, but they rocked a succinct set of anthemic guitar rock that seemed to

pick up where fellow countrymen Soundtrack Of Our Lives left off. Most notable about the group was their tightness, an actual Mellotron (!), and an on-point drummer.

Most bands want to melt your face off, and that’s laudable. Tame Impala aims for nothing short of rewiring your brain. On this, the last show of their US tour, Kevin Parker led the band through a master class in psychedelia that veered from Beatles harmonies to Queens of The Stone Age riffs, and to the great sonic beyond. The band’s August appearance at San Francisco’s Outside Lands was a great calling card for them, but throughout their set they seemed to be wrestling with the sound, reaching a place of bliss, and then have it seemingly drift away. The confines of the Fonda Theater, however, were the perfect match for them, and the setlist was crafted to create the perfect ebb and flow as to make the set pass by as one long song in a hovering cloud of sound.

Of their two albums, the most recent, Lonerism, was just released in October (check out our review of it here). The Fonda Theater was sold-out, and the fanatic audience was in tune the whole way. Parker, in return, was humble, acknowledging Los Angeles as, “The city we can’t get over…can’t believe we’re here.”

The set drew heavily from Lonerism, with side one of their first full album Inner Speaker sprinkled in. To pick highlights is a fool’s mission, but the combination of the sonic throttle of “Elephant” into the lighter-waving moment of next single “Feels Like We’re Going Backwards” had the biggest crowd response, followed closely by the set closing duo of “Desire Be, Desire Go” from their self-titled debut EP, and new album standout “Apocalypse Dreams.”

It’s been a banner year for Kevin Parker with his production of the Melody’s Echo Chamber LP, and the release of Lonerism. In a relatively short time, Tame Impala has earned its place, and now it’s back home triumphant for an Australian tour.

Check out the entire incredible set of photos HERE.