It’s the very definition of a hot ticket tonight at the Bell Centre; meeting up with a buddy before the show, he tells me he hears scalpers quoting $500 to any of the unlucky ticketless who ask. It was one of those shows I bought tickets for too, just in case this media request didn’t pan out; absolutely unmissable!
The deafening screams that greet the arrival of opener Djo tell you that he could probably headline this venue himself; heck, he’s a big part of the reason this is such a hot ticket. It’s Joe Keery’s first-ever show in Montreal, and the room is absolutely packed for him. The screams cut away as the opening notes of Awake ring out, and what a contrast it is; a slow, sludgy strum in dim red light that probably shocks the teenage girls who only know the singles. It proceeds that way for three whole minutes, before exploding into thrashing grunge in a flash of light. It’s absolutely unreal, and my favourite song of the whole set. What a way to mark your arrival on a Montreal stage!
“Je m’appelle Joe!” he declares, before asking “Montreal, do you wanna sing with me?!” Basic Being Basic returns to the more familiar TikTok indie you’ve probably heard already, and draws an enormous singalong right back to the nosebleeds as Joe patrols the perimeter of the oval stage in the middle of the floor. Roddy gets a huge singalong, especially when he drops off the mic to let the crowd sing the chorus entirely, as does Charlie’s Garden and Delete Ya.
Egg brings in some very Tame Impala-esque keys to segue nicely into tonight’s main event, before the set wraps up with breakthrough single End of Beginning. As phone lights start to spring up, Joe implores “YEAH, LIGHT IT UP!” The inside of the Bell Centre promptly resembles a sea of dancing fireflies as the 45-minute debut wraps up in spectacular manner.
Djo Setlist
Awake
Change
Basic Being Basic
Link
Roddy
Fool
Charlie’s Garden
Delete Ya
Egg
End of Beginning
And then it’s the return of Kevin Parker and Tame Impala. I’ve seen a few videos from this tour in the lead-up to tonight, but nothing quite prepares you for living the experience. Apocalypse Dreams is a mellow start to the spectacle, with lasers rumbling into life midway through, before a ring of screens drops from the sky and encapsulates the stage, with “DEADBEAT” projecting on it as Kevin introduces the show: “ARE WE GONNA HAVE FUN OR WHAT?!”
Soon enough, the screens rise up as the funk of Borderline jams out in a flurry of blue and red lasers, and a spooky solid red light on Kevin as he roams the stage. He’s into it pretty early too: “I feel like it’s gonna be a special night… I don’t say that every night!” Breathe Deeper is blissed-out perfection, blended with such heavy bass it borders on Justice, and then it gets so dirty on Gossip it sounds like thunderclaps raining down as Kevin lies down on the stage in a circle of light beams.
Then Elephant arrives. Wow. It’s absolutely apocalyptic, with lasers absolutely exploding at the instrumental mid-section, and additional space-beeps thrown in for good measure. Afterthought takes things down a whole different house path, Kevin roaming the barrier of the floor section as the Bell Centre becomes a club; My Old Ways maintains the vibe.
At the conclusion of a euphoric Feels Like We Only Go Backwards, Kevin heads back off the stage, onto the floor… and keeps walking, cameraman in tow. Through the concourse. Past the concessions. Into the washroom. For a pee break! Thankfully, the camera focuses on his shoes throughout the “process.”
The crowd roars as Kevin washes his hands (gotta love hygiene), and then he returns to a small stage that resembles a divan with cushions and lamps, and with effects boxes on it. He builds the electronic components of Ethereal Connection and Not My World while the rest of the band back on the main stage add their parts, laying back on the cushions as he sings out the vocals as the lamps pulse as if possessed.
Let It Happen heralds Kevin’s return to the main stage in triumphant manner, the drop met with a barrage of lasers and confetti that truly overloads the senses! Things chill out a little in the form of Nangs, Obsolete, and then Yes I’m Changing, which sees another sea of phone lights around the room. Eventually continues the heavenly feels, the stage burning red as the crowd roars along, before the main set wraps up with New Person, Same Old Mistakes, which climaxes with another confetti bomb and more lasers and smoke.
Nothing mellow about the encore though, heck no! An initially unidentifiable beat rumbles into life and eventually takes the form of Dracula, which sounds immense under spooky red lights; positively vampirish! As soon as that ends, the unmistakable intro riff of The Less I Know the Better drops, and detonates a mosh in various parts of the floor section, before the pulsating beats of End of Summer bring the curtain down on the two-hour epic.
“Montreal, je vous aime!” declares Kevin as he leaves the stage.
Kevin, on t’aime aussi!
Tame Impala Setlist
Apocalypse Dreams
Deadbeat Jam
Borderline
Loser
Breathe Deeper
Gossip
Elephant
Afterthought
My Old Ways
Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
No Reply (Instrumental)
Ethereal Connection
Not My World
Let It Happen
Nangs
Obsolete
Yes I’m Changing
Eventually
New Person, Same Old Mistakes
Encore
Dracula
The Less I Know the Better
End of Summer
Review – Simon Williams
Photos – Andres Amaya
