I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: August 30, 2019] King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

I’ve already stated that I’m really happy for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard that they are finding so much success here.  I mean in Philly, they jumped from a 1,500 to a 2,500 capacity venue.  Plus, they got to headline a concert in Central Park.

One of the guys in line next to me had been to Central Park the night before as well.

But I couldn’t believe the line to get in the place when I arrived 30 minutes before the opening band was supposed to go on.

Turns out most people are there for the merch.  The merch line was insanely long.  And, when the show was over–I have never seen this before–they had a hand written sign that said “all King Gizzard shirts and posters are sold, why not try our vinyl?”

Not band for a bunch of guys from Australia with a goofy name and a completely unpinnable style.  Indeed, they have released two albums this year and one was a full-on blues boogie type pf album and their most recent release was a blistering heavy metal album in the spirit of early 80s thrash.  And they played songs from both of those albums (as well as ballads and just about everything else).

This was my first time in Franklin Musical Hall since it was changed from The Electric Factory.  I appreciated that they removed the very large bar near the entrance to the music area.  It was in the way and was too bright for being in the middle of the crowd.  They can’t fix the fact that it is narrow and long, though.

And boy was it hot in there!

It wasn’t terribly hot outside, but holy cow.  Just standing there with all those 2,000 or so people made it really sweltering.  It was so hot that the crew at one point sprayed us with misting hoses–this is inside a building!  Someone opened a side door behind us (accidentally or on purpose I do not know) and the rush of cool air was like a godsend. I assume the A/C was broken or something, but damn.  It was so bad that after a couple of songs even Stu had to ask what was going on.

So it was hot and all the yahoos were pushing in trying to get into the center for the inevitable pit.  I was really blown away last time at how mobile the KGATLW crowd was.  Slamming, pogoing, bouncing, just full body contact everywhere.  And since the band’s most recent album was a thrash metal assault, I positioned myself off to the side a bit further back than I like to be.

And it was nowhere near enough.  The second Stu started playing the intense riff of “Planet B” the crowd was insane.  Again, Franklin Hall is really narrow so it was quite hard to escape the tumult.  I was almost against the side wall trying to get away from the slammers.

The intensity continued with “Perihelion” and even though I’ve seen my share of metal shows, this was an amazing metal experience.

Things slowed down for a few seconds as “The Great Chain of Being” started up but the pogoing soon resumed once that song took off.

And then it was time for the great chillout.  King Gizzard has 15 albums out so who can even imagine what they’ll play next, but to go through three super heavy songs and then to follow it up with the lite, jazzy “Stressin‘” was just a fantastic move.  I love this chill song and getting to see Ambrose sing it while playing a shaker egg was definitely fun.

But the calm was not to last long, because they switched gears to their 2014 I’m in Your Mind Fuzz album and played the first four tracks (they segue into each other on the record).   Starting with the (sorta) title song and running through to “Cellophane” one of only four songs they repeated from the previous show that I saw.

Last show they were focusing a lot on the Murder of the Universe album (with 6 songs).  This show they played two songs from that disc which they didn’t play last time including the title track which has a lengthy computer-voiced recitation and the complex “The Balrog.”

Before releasing Rats’ Nest a month or so ago, the band released the bluesy Fishing for Fishies.  They played four songs from it including one of my favorite jazzy songs, “To a Bird.”

One of the more fun aspects of any KGATLW show is when Ambrose Kenny-Smith gets to take over lead vocals for a few songs.  Mostly he stands by the keyboards with his stack of harmonicas (right).  But mid-set he gets to be center stage for a few tracks, like the lovey “Let Me Mend the Past”

But it’s even more fun when the Flying Microtonal Banana guitar comes out.

The band made two albums of microtonlal music using this specially fretted guitar.  So when it comes out you know you’re going to get a few in a row.  Like the Ambrose sung “Billabong Valley”

Then it’s back to Stu with the maniacal “Nuclear Fusion.”  These two songs were also played last show–as was “All is Known” I guess there’s not too many microtonal songs to choose from.

However, last show the third microtonal song was “Rattlesnake” and this time it was Doom City–so there was some new-to-me microtonal magic.

Then it was time to Boogie.  I was kind of surprised at how few Fishes songs they’d played, but I needn’t have been because two boogies were coming up.  First came the rather dark “Boogieman Sam.”   Then Stu moved from his spot at the front of the stage to the back with the small keyboard and the voice filter to create a fantastic jamming version of “Cyboogie.”

I love the background videos in this song.  Indeed every song has some kind of mind-melting video behind it.  That plus the fact that there’s very little in the way of stage lighting makes it very hard to get clear pictures of the band, which is a bummer. But totally worth it for the rest of the experience.

“Cyboogie” really had the feel of a set ending song. It’s long, it’s fun and everybody was totally into it.

But they weren’t done yet (even though it was past 11–which I assumed was the curfew).  They decided to see if the exhausted audience had any energy left by returning to Rats Nest with two more thrashing songs.

I haven’t mentioned that there are two drummers in the band, Michael Cavanagh and Eric Moore  Last tour they were facing each other.  This time they sat next to each other facing out which was very cool because you could see just how in sync they are.  The drummer on the right (Cavanagh) tends to do more fills and he did a lot of the really heavy, fast double bass work, but the guy on the left (Moore) was always in sync.  Amazing.

First was a blistering “Self-Immolate” that just got everyone moving, surfing and collapsing out of the pit utterly drenched–I touched a lot of sweaty bodies that night.

Last time, they ended the show with the 16 second (stretched out to about 45 seconds) “Some Context.”  And I though they’d end the show with a similarly short coda.  But nope, they went even bigger with the completely intense “Hell.”

And then it was over.  An explosive, totally enjoyable set.  I heard at least two people walking out saying it was the best King Gizzard show they had seen.

Before the band came on I was so hot and cranky and so annoyed by all the people pushing and trying to force their way up front that I said I’d never bother going to another KGATLW show–it just wasn’t worth it.  But when the show was over, I completely changed my mind and really can’t wait to see them again–just hopefully not at Franklin Hall.

Markit Aneight was on hand to record the show

 

Franklin Music Hall August 30, 2019	Union Transfer June 18, 2018
Planet B ℜ	Digital Black ⊗
Perihelion ℜ	Vomit Coffin ⊗
The Great Chain of Being Ω	The Lord of Lightning ⊗
Stressin’ ℘	Cellophane β
I’m in Your Mind β	Alter Me I ⊗
I’m Not in Your Mind β	Altered Beast I ⊗
Cellophane β	Evil Death Roll ∝
I’m in Your Mind Fuzz β	Billabong Valley ⇔
The Balrog ⊗	Nuclear Fusion ⇔
Acarine €	Rattlesnake ⇔
Murder of the Universe ⊗	All Is Known Ω
The Bird Song €	Crumbling Castle Δ
Let Me Mend the Past ∼	The Fourth Colour Δ
Billabong Valley ⇔	Deserted Dunes Welcome Weary Feet Δ
Nuclear Fusion ⇔	The Castle in the Air Δ
Doom City ⇔	Muddy Water Ω
All Is Known Ω	The Wheel Ω
Boogieman Sam €	Robot Stop ∝
Cyboogie €	Gamma Knife ∝
Self-Immolate ℜ	Some Context ⊗
Hell ℜ

ℜ Infest the Rats’ Nest (2019)
€ Fishing for Fishies (2019)
Ω Gumboot Soup (2017)
Δ Polygondwannaland (2017)
⊗ Murder of the Universe (2017)
⇔ Flying Microtonal Banana (2017)
∝ Nonagon Infinity (2016)
β I’m in Your Mind Fuzz (2014)
℘ Oddments (2014)
∼ Float Along – Fill Your Lungs (2013)