Tame Impala issues warning to fans about seizures ahead of Australian tour

The visual elements in Tame Impala’s latest show are so strong fans have experienced seizures. That’s prompted a warning for Aussie fans.

Tame Impala has issued a warning to fans ahead of its Australian tour, which opens in Brisbane on Tuesday.

People in the audience of their Auckland leg experienced seizures, prompting the band to issue a warning to fans on social media about some of the show’s visual elements.

“Hey guys, just a reminder that there are some quite intense visual moments in our show, so please be careful if you think you might be sensitive to such things or susceptible to seizures,” the warning posted to their Instagram stories read.

“Also, if you see someone in trouble, do the right thing by your fellow concertgoer and help them/signal for help. We can usually get help there really quickly. We’ve seen that making some space and making a path is reeallly (sic) helpful (this goes for all kinds of medical emergencies).”

A couple of people in the Auckland show experienced seizures and were treated by St John’s, the post read.

“Thankfully (they) … didn’t need to go to hospital. Thanks to everyone who assisted/helped,” the post read.

MUSIC STAR’S ‘WEIRD’ MOMENT WITH THE WIGGLES

It took two years off the road for Tame Impala mastermind Kevin Parker to unlock the simple secret to a great gig.

Despite performing on stages for half his life, the 36-year-old songwriter, producer and global hitmaker was a reluctant rock god who hid behind his guitar and carefully curated his shows from start to finish to hide his introvert nature.

After being forced off stage by the pandemic – this week’s Australian tour was rescheduled three times – Parker realised his concert “extravaganzas” were missing one key ingredient.

“I suddenly realised how much there is a value in talking to the audience,” he said.

“It sounds like such a simple thing. Before the pandemic I hated talking to the audience, now I love it.

“The (showman) is gradually coming out, very slowly, it’s just about having fun.

“If you think too hard about being on stage, that can quickly turn you into a bit of a nervous wreck because being on stage is a weird thing.”

In a break before their Slow Rush tour picked up again in America and Europe, Parker was at home in April in Perth to perform the weirdest gig of his career.

He stood backstage, not so much nervous as bemused by how Elephant, a song he had recorded ten years ago, was big again after The Wiggles mashed it up with their fan favourite Fruit Salad.

There was a national celebration when it claimed No. 1 on Triple J’s huge Hottest 100 song poll in January.

Kevin Parker from Tame Impala on stage with The Wiggles. Picture: Supplied

Parker wondered after the gig if his infant daughter Peach, who watched her father play guitar with Australia’s biggest children’s band, would now think “Wait, is Dad a Wiggle?’”

“The Wiggles gig was probably the weirdest thing I’ve done on stage; not because I was uncomfortable but because it was truly one of those ‘How the hell did I get here?’ moments,” Parker says.

“The kids were easy to entertain, it was more the parents who were like ‘Is that the bloke from Tame Impala? What the hell is he doing?’”

Tame Impala burst out of Perth as an alternative psychedelic rock force with their debut album Innerspeaker in 2010 with Parker in charge of writing and recording their music and enlisting a tight-knit bunch of mates to play it live.

Their second album Lonerism, third record Currents and the 2020 release The Slow Rush all scored Grammy nominations.

As Tame Impala became a force on the airwaves and charts, the global music industry took notice of Parker’s production and writing skills and he became an in-demand collaborator for some of the biggest pop stars in the world.

Parker’s name is listed on albums by Lady Gaga, Travis Scott, Kanye West, Mark Ronson, Gorillaz, The Weeknd, Rihanna and Diana Ross.

Tame Impala's Kevin Parker. Picture: Supplied/Dana Trippe

His recent collaborations stretch from remixing indie pop outfit Confidence Man’s single Holiday to working with Baz Luhrmann on the Elvis soundtrack.

Parker is tight-lipped on upcoming singles he has worked on – “I don’t want to spoil it” – but said he is regularly “blown away” about how his studio experiences with the world’s biggest pop stars rarely mirror the public perception of them.

“It’s always a surprise. I’ve done some sessions with pop artists who most people would think just get (other) people to write their songs for them. And they’ve just blown me away with how switched on they are and how much of an amazing songwriter they are. That happens a lot,” he said.

Kevin Parker of Tame Impala with his toddler daughter Peach. Picture: Instagram

“Like working with Baz (Luhrmann), there was so much going back and forth to get this piece of music right for the movie, he was involved at such an intense level.

“The sheer polar oppositeness of working with other artists makes it so appealing and exciting.

“When I worked with Lady Gaga on the song for her album Joanne, it was literally the first time I’d written lyrics with another person.”

Whether he will share his Tame Impala stage with another artist on the tour this week is something he is considering.

The Kid Laroi’s audience went nuts in May when he was joined by The Wiggles on stage at his final show in Melbourne; surely the children’s music superstars should be popping up with Tame Impala to play the Elephant and Fruit Salad mash-up.

“You’re dangerously opening a can of wiggly worms there,” he jokes when asked about the possibility.

“When we were in America, someone held up a sign that said Fruit Salad, so we just played a bit of Fruit Salad,” he said.

“I’m not going to say anything more but you’ve got me thinking.”

Tame Impala open the Australian leg of the Slow Rush tour at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on October 18, Qudos Bank Arena on October 20, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne on October 22 and 23, Adelaide Entertainment Centre on October 26 and RAC Arena, Perth on October 29.

Originally published as Tame Impala issues warning to fans about seizures ahead of Australian tour