King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard: Marathon Preview
Blog courtesy of acclaimed music journalist, and Gizz-superfan, Jonathan Cohen
Watch the worldwide premieres from the 13-show marathon.
When last we left King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard in the fall of 2022, the Australian sextet was laying waste to Red Rocks Amphitheatre with three, three-hour shows featuring no repeated songs drawn from throughout its then-23 album deep discography. As hard as it may be to imagine for a group with an already jaw-dropping work ethic, King Gizzard’s summer 2023 U.S. tour is taking this concept to the proverbial next level, and nugs.net will have all the action via delayed livestreams beginning June 23.
Rather than a traditional tour, the group has hunkered down for multiple-show residences at the Caverns in Pelham, Tn., the aforementioned Red Rocks outside Denver, the new Salt Shed in Chicago, and Remlinger Farms 20 miles east of Seattle. No songs are being repeated within each individual city, allowing Gizzard to touch on more than 80 different tracks so far on the run. Among them have been the live debuts of material from the upcoming trash metal/prog concept album “PetroDragonic Apocalypse,” which will be released Friday (June 16).
Below, check out some highlights from the shows already completed and look ahead to the Seattle concerts. Also be sure to peruse nugs.net’s King Gizzard catalog, which includes more than a dozen audio and video releases taped all over the world.
The Caverns – Pelham, TN
What could be more King Gizzard than a show inside a literal ancient cave in a rural Tennessee town with a population of about 400? On June 1 at the first of four gigs in this unique venue (two in the cave, two in the above-ground amphitheater up the hill), the energy is off the charts from the opening notes of “The Dripping Tap” to five straight songs from 2016’s “Nonagon Infinity” played without a pause. Two of the best and most sprawling selections from Gizzard’s five distinct 2022 studio albums, “Ice V” and “Hypertension,” also make a wonderfully symbiotic pair, while the “PetroDragonic” standout “Super Cell” is given its live debut.
Back in the cave the next night, Gizzard again seems possessed by hard-rocking spirits with the opening suite of “I’m in Your Mind” -> “I’m Not in Your Mind” -> “Cellophane,” a trio immediately trumped by the head-banging thrash of “Planet B,” “Predator X” and another new tune, “Converge.” An attempt to incorporate some electronic gadgets goes comically awry after the flute-kissed hip-hop of “The Grim Reaper,” with multi-instrumentalist Joey Walker at first commanding frontman Stu Mackenzie to “engage the granulator” before giving up and chuckling, “our stuff is broken really well.” The long-awaited live debut of the funk jam “Astroturf” follows, and by the “K.G.L.W.” closer, it almost feels like Gizzard is just getting warmed up after almost two hours on stage.
The June 3 outdoor set had already been designated beforehand as a Pride Night celebration, but Gizzard goes above and beyond by performing fully in drag after purchasing dresses and other goodies that afternoon from a Goodwill by the Bonnaroo site in nearby Manchester. The night before, a federal judge had struck down Tennessee’s widely criticized anti-drag law, and fans of all ages and orientations can’t help but feel the love coming from the stage. Highlights include the one-two heavy metal punch of “Gaia” and the yet-to-be-released “Petro” face-melter “Witchcraft,” the Ambrose Kenny-Smith showcase “Boogieman Sam” (with snippets of Canned Heat’s “Going Up the Country” and Muddy Waters’ “Got My Mojo Working”) and the expansive combo of “Magma” and “Lava” from last year’s “Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava.”
At the final Caverns show, fans get to experience Gizzard at its most beguiling. Despite the heaviest album of its career due for release in less than two weeks, the band opts to play a fully acoustic set for what’s believed to be only the fourth time in its 14-year existence, and this ultra-rare assemblage of songs includes just two that have been released since 2017. It’s a reminder of how earlier Gizzard songs such as “Lonely Steel Sheet Flyer,” “Sleepwalker,” “The River” and “Let Me Mend the Past” bring out a more nuanced, roots-y and jam band-adjacent sound, and why they work so well in this stripped-down setting. “Thanks for indulging our dad-rock tunes,” Walker says at one point. Closer “Her and I (Slow Jam 2)” embodies all sides of Gizzard at once, as it works its way into a loud, two-chord jam before quieting back down to hushed tones. All in all one of the most unusual performances in recent Gizzard history, this one is not to be missed.
Red Rocks – Morrison, CO
Back in the friendly confines of Red Rocks on June 7, Gizzard dusts off “Sense,” which had been on the acoustic Caverns show set list but was cut for time, and debuts the genial “Hate Dancin’” from last year’s “Changes” album (hint: they don’t really hate it). A two-fer from 2017’s “Murder of the Universe” is an excellent precursor for three continuous tracks from “Nonagon Infinity,” with “Robot Stop” working in teases of “Hot Water,” “The Dripping Tap” and “Shanghai.”
In another “hey, why not?” move, Gizzard plays two separate shows at the gorgeous mountain venue the next day, with the afternoon matinee marked by the first performance of the gauzy “Satan Speeds Up” since 2014 and numerous devil-horn rockers such as “Self-Immolate” and “Evil Death Roll.” Walker gets the vocal spotlight on “This Thing” and “Most of What I Like,” and “Shanghai” has an impromptu chant about getting high, because … well, Colorado.
At the evening show, the twisting and turning “Rattlesnake” is an ideal opener to reset the collective energy, and Kenny-Smith again steals the spotlight with his vocals and stage presence on “Straws in the Wind” and “Presumptuous.” The last portion of the night shifts from the infrequently aired “Slow Jam I” into four straight rippers: “Hell,” “Mars for the Rich,” “Super Cell” and “Gila Monster,” the latter two “Petro” tracks reminding the audience of Gizzard’s inherent mastery of dynamics and virtuosity.
The Salt Shed – Chicago, IL
The first night of a three-show run in the Windy City on June 11 says a lot about live Gizzard circa 2023: 14 songs from 12 different albums, dabbling in everything from weird microtonal rock (the opening combo of “O.N.E.” and “Pleura”), top-shelf thrash (“Motor Spirit” and “Gaia,” the latter dedicated to none other than John Mayer) and Grateful Dead-worthy sonic explorations (“The River”). The sludgy “The Great Chain of Being” appears for the first time on the residency tour, while an extended “Boogieman Sam” (with teases of five different other songs) wraps the evening with hip-shaking, harmonica-flavored vibes.
Tour debuts abound on June 12, from the simmering, microtonal “Honey” and the chugga-wugga blast “Road Train” to the herky-jerky “Invisible Face” (its first complete performance ever) and finale “Am I in Heaven?” “Hate Dancin’” and “Astroturf” are back to get the bodies moving, “Shanghai” is a super atmospheric jam, and three songs from 2017’s “Polygondwanaland” (“Inner Cell,” “Loyalty,” “Horology”) demonstrate Gizzard’s uncanny ability to morph one similar-sounding riff into 10 minutes of beautiful, creeping dread.
Day-long rain can’t deter the Gizzard faithful at the Chicago finale on June 13, and they’re rewarded with the live debut of the rhythmically obtuse “Change” from “Changes” (“fuck, are we really doing this?,” the band asks aloud). A 10-minute-plus “Hot Water” wanders all over the place before unexpectedly segueing into the always satisfying Krautrock epic “Hypertension,” and the fan favorite, Cook “Cookie” Craig-sung “The Garden Goblin” affords Gizzard the chance to reminisce about Australian hardware store chain Bunnings and the animated kids show “Bluey.” “The Dripping Tap” sends the soggy crowd home humming “drip drip from the tap / don’t slip on the drip” after 19 minutes of blissed-out, major key rock’n’roll.
Remlinger Farms – Carnation, WA
Looking ahead to the Seattle three-pack, there are still two “Petro” songs yet to be played live (“Dragon” and “Flamethrower” are both nine-minute slabs of vein-bulging, pedal-to-the-metal magnificence). Since the album will be officially released at 9 p.m. local time during the first show, it would stand to reason that one, if not both, of the tracks may finally see the light of day.
Other songs in general Gizzard rotation that have yet to be performed during the residencies include “Blame It on the Weather” (which might feel especially appropriate amid an unseasonably cold spell in the Seattle area), “Oddlife,” “Venusian 2,” “Static Electricity,” and the “Altered Beast” suite from “Murder of the Universe.” Maybe the group will feel particularly inspired by its grunge surroundings and work a Nirvana, Pearl Jam, or Soundgarden tease into a jam one night too. Hey, a Gizz fan can dream, right?
Watch the worldwide premieres from the 13-show marathon, starting Friday June 23rd. Save 25% when ordering all 13, available as an upgrade from any single-night’s show.
Jonathan Cohen is a music journalist, editor and author of the New York Times-bestselling authorized biography of Pearl Jam, 2011’s “Pearl Jam 20.” He previously served as the music booker for the first six years of Jimmy Fallon’s NBC late night show, where he oversaw the debut U.S. TV appearances of Tame Impala, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler, the Creator, Frank Ocean, Lorde, Kacey Musgraves, and Ed Sheeran. He also plays keyboards in the band Chamberlain.
