After
a year of frequently covering intense and cerebral concerts at Lawrence
University, I longed for more relaxed and fun concerts this summer. While I
love the music Lawrence provides, its environment doesn’t always evoke dancing and singing along, a part of me I was
not completely aware of until seeing Tame Impala at the UIC Pavilion.
Seeing the band live was the perfect start to the summer - I was
in the company of good friends, left musically inspired and the joy of being
halfway finished with my college education was amplified with the celebratory
nature of the concert (the loads of confetti certainly helped this). I
sang, danced and for the first time in a while, was able to completely strip
myself of all worries and stress. The atmosphere Tame Impala created with their
music and contagious happiness was beautiful.
Throughout
the concert my mind kept going back to the stark contrast between the music’s original conception and its performance, fueled by a live
band and shared with the audience. For those who don’t know, Tame Impala is essentially Kevin Parker’s recording project, and as their discography progressed, it’s pretty much a moniker for him. On their debut album, “Innerspeaker,” Parker composed
and played all instruments on nearly every track, leaving just a few for a
bassist and drummer. On the second, “Lonerism,” Parker took control of everything except piano and keys on
two tracks. The most recent release, “Currents,” was a solo project. So when I saw him up there, backed by
several other musicians, I was blown away at how he so gracefully translated
music made alone to a communal experience with his live band; an experience he
was able to share with a stadium full of people, uniting everyone on the stage
and off the stage.
When
I thought of Parker making his music on his own, it was a tender sight. His
discography, “Currents” especially, is honest and sensitive. The concert was
certainly moving, as expected, but not quite in the way I thought it would be.
I was ready for Parker to pour out his emotions and the audience to take them
in, which did happen, but the result was an upbeat and optimistic one, and went
both ways. The audience seemed to give back just as much emotion to Parker,
filling the pavilion with the celebration of being open and sharing feelings
via music. It was not just Parker who was honest and sensitive - it was
everyone there.
This
observation was especially prevalent during “Yes I’m Changing” and “The Less I Know The Better,” played back to
back. Being two favorite songs off of “Currents” of my friend and mine, we both felt a wave of emotion come
over us, singing along throughout and looking at each other with wide smiles
and eyes slightly wet with tears of happiness. The moment felt pure and
euphoric.
Another
part of the concert that struck a chord with me was when they played “It Is Not Meant To Be” and “Apocalypse Dreams” one after the
other, the latter being the first song I had ever heard by Tame Impala and the
former being the first track on their debut album. Despite only being
introduced to the band a few years ago, I felt intense nostalgia hearing these
songs, bringing me back to early high school - a time when I was quickly
discovering loads of new music. They have always been favorites of mine, being
the first two songs of theirs I really dug into, and their live renditions were
nothing short of perfect. They resonated with me in the same ways they did the
first time I heard them but in this context, I could share my excitement and
nostalgia with the audience and let it consume me, only being aware of the
music.
The
concert was a grounding experience in similar ways Deep Listening has been,
although I was not actively Deep Listening for most of the show. But the way
other senses besides my hearing were stimulated (there were intense, beautiful
visuals that danced on a screen behind the band) and how I felt so emotional
and elated made me feel very aware of everything going on. In short, I felt
like I do with many of the concerts I go to, especially the wide variety of the
experimental ones at Lawrence, despite this being more “mainstream” or “rock.” My point is that
many people - including me - are often guilty of preconceived notions
(subconsciously or not) going into a performance and that tends to affect the
overall experience (usually negatively). I wasn’t expecting to be
so moved by this concert due to comparing it to the year of concerts I saw
previously, but here I am.
Seeing
Tame Impala live had it all, it seemed. In less than two hours, I sang my heart
out, danced and grooved, felt wave after wave of emotion and heard some damn
good music. This was a fitting start to a summer of hearing, writing about,
sharing and playing music, and I could not be more excited to see what lays
ahead of me these next few months.