Tame Impala performed a special show for “LA’s Alternative” 98.7 FM ahead of the three California Blood Baths they’re playing Halloween week with The Flaming Lips.
Monday, October 28th’s gig on the roof of Hollywood’s Penthouse presented the band sitting in a row, without a drum kit – a unique twist that comes off surprising well. The only way to get in was to know somebody who could get you in (or win tickets). Thankfully the rest of us can get a glimpse via exclusive photos here and decent videos of the performance below. The setlist was split evenly between Innerspeaker and Lonerism – with The Flaming Lips’ “Are You A Hypnotist?” thrown in for good measure. The latter is one of the tracks off the new Peace and Paranoia split EP with The Lips featuring the two bands covering each other. A stream of the EP – along with more details on its recording, the making of limited edition vinyl and how you can get your hands on a copy – is here.
UPDATE – Tame Impala has played “Are You A Hypnotist?” at more shows since the rooftop gig. First they performed it at Belasco Theater on October 30th, then they were joined by some Lips for a live collab at the Santa Barbara Blood Bath.
Watch Wayne Coyne front Tame Impala with Steven Drozd on drums at Santa Barbara Bowl on November 1st in the below video. The close up shot of Drozd’s drumming during the second verse (three minutes in) were captured by Kliph Scurlock from stage left:
Disguised in a black cloak, Steven also joined Tame Impala in Santa Barbara during their mash-up of ”Elephant” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” – complete with dancers! At the end of the above video you can see the tail of the Aussies’ “King of Pop” cover with Steven playing a drum app on his iPhone. Watch a longer clip of the performance below:
In return, Tame Impala came out November 1st to sing “Do You Realize???” with the Lips. Additionally Kevin Parker played guitar during the start of the Lips set at all three Blood Baths – in which a Miley Ray Cyrus impersonator piggybacked on a grizzly bear doused Wayne with “real pig’s blood” as the band covers 1978′s Halloween movie theme. Kevin, hidden in a mask, guested on “The W.A.N.D.” as well. Jay Watson – dressed as Gumby – also joined the Lips at the start of their set for the latter two Blood Baths, playing the teenage engineering OP-1 synth. Steven played bass with Tame Impala at their Greek Theatre soundcheck, but the collabs they planned for that night and Halloween didn’t pan out. Kliph however sat in with Tame Impala on October 31st during “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” (video and more details here).
See a collection of photos instagrammed from Santa Barbara here, including this gem of Gumby (Jay that is) conversing backstage with Wayne over that night’s setlist:
The Future Heart 
Having listened to a lot of music and yours? is among the most wonderful.
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