“We are excited to welcome you to the Tame Impala ‘Slow Rush’ Tour. Be advised the rushiums effects range from a minor expansion to large time collapses staged within memory and the effective present.”
As a more recent fan of Tame Impala with videos of their shows being plastered all over my TikTok, I had high standards for this show, all of which were exceeded. I have been to over 40 concerts at this point in my life, and I never thought I would be saying this, but Tame Impala’s “Slow Rush” show has now ended up in my top five, maybe even top three, of the best shows I’ve ever seen.
Before even getting into the arena, the vibes of the show were unlike anything I had experienced before. You could tell every person there portrayed different branches of the same hippie-esk style. Everyone seemed very laid back, happy, and ready for the show. This was Tame Impala’s first Boston stop during round one of this tour, only emphasizing the excitement for everyone there.
Walking onto the floor of the arena was surreal; seeing so much color surrounding me on the floor was crazy. I felt like I was standing in the middle of a giant hippie-rainbow. Signs on people’s phones such as, “anyone have nicotine,” “does anyone have a lighter,” and “who’s excited for Kevin” graced my view, and I was starting to get more excited for the show to start just because of the environment.
Their opener JunglePussy came on right at 8 p.m., and at first, I was a little confused at that choice. But once the psychedelic visuals surrounded her and the music started playing, I understood why. A psychedelic, yet somewhat demonic, women empowerment set by JunglePussy left me in awe after she left the stage. Oh, and one of her most famous songs, “Trader Joe,” is a famous TikTok audio, so with Tame’s incredible social media presence, I definitely see why they chose her.
After she left the stage, people started getting antsy, as we knew the amazing Kevin Parker was about to grace us with his presence, and the audience started chanting “KEVIN, KEVIN, KEVIN.”
The clock hit 9:20 p.m., and the lights shut off. The screams got louder, the screen went white, and a doctor wearing a Rushium—Tame’s medicine brand that touches on psychedelic drug use—white coat came on the screen. The visual then went from her and her normal voice to a slow, drawn out deep voice that helped transition her face from normal into a giant trippy rainbow. The lights went out, and Kevin’s shadow blessed the crowd as he walked onto the stage.
He started out with “One More Year” from his album The Slow Rush, which was released in 2020. I immediately felt transported into another realm of happiness. The lighting, the visuals, everything from this show was insane. After “One More Year,” he added shorter length songs for transitions, which made me feel like I was in a movie.
The song “Elephant” from the same 2020 release came slowly after that and increased everyone’s hype by a good 20 percent (even though we were already at 100) from the beat of the drums and the electric guitar riffs. The first laser show happened during that song and I was truly taken back—but not as surprised as I was when the giant circle above the stage started moving with beaming rainbow lights.
This was right before the huge transition into my favorite song “Let It Happen,” and honestly, I couldn’t have pictured an intro to the song any other way. The confetti going off and lasers following the big beat drop to the song was my favorite part of the night. After that, the confetti and smiles didn’t stop.
Kevin truly made me feel like my soul left my body and was transported into an outer space dimension that I never knew about. Tame Impala put up a show filled with happiness, smiles, and time stopping performances. I didn’t take any Rushium before the show, but I didn’t need to. The experience mirrored the feeling of psychedelics without actually being on psychedelics.
Kevin gave me one of the best nights I’ve had in a while and for that I am forever grateful. I will be sitting at home from now on staring at my Tame Impala Boston poster, holding onto my little pieces of confetti I collected, reliving that night in my head until the next time Kevin Parker blesses us with this presence in Boston again. Oh yeah, and f**k Trevor.
