KING GIZZARD – LIVE @ THE CAVERNS AMPHITHEATER
By Eric Rauert
This is the second of four features covering the King Gizzard residencies at The Caverns, The Salt Shed and Remlinger Farms.
The Caverns Amphitheater: Night 1
The second pair of Caverns shows was at the venue’s outdoor amphitheater. A beautiful strawberry moon rose over the stage and gave the night a slight orange glow as six grown men proudly marched onto the stage in dresses. This was a planned protest for the drag performance laws proposed in Tennessee, fortunately overturned that same day. According to Walker the “protest” was now a “celebration” and they launched into their opener, “Rattlesnake”, the classic lead track from 2017’s Flying Microtonal Banana. This is just a goofy microtonal song that rocks with a bit of bite to it, pun completely intended.
“Minimum Brain Size” was the singular tease this time and once “Rattlesnake” ended, the song would be finished after “O.N.E”. Continuing to feature 2021’s K.G. and L.W., “Straws in the Wind” concluded the microtonal songs of the evening. As has come to be expected, Kenny-Smith jumped up on the VIP barrier and sang part of the song directly with the crowd in addition to roaming the stage.
Metal was up next. I couldn’t help but laugh at the juxtaposition between Stu’s guitar, an incredibly metal Holy Explorer and the pink dress he had picked out at the thrift store earlier that day. I don’t think I’ll see as good a performance in dresses until Baby Metal in Cleveland later this year.
Recent live favorite “Gaia” was played first. This song is in 5/4 time and weirdly hard to head bang to but the energy is always great. Additionally, most of “Motor Spirit” from their new album was teased before returning to finish “Gaia”. The guttural growling of “MOOOOTTTTEEERRR… SPPPPIIIRRRIIITTTT.” was an excellent addition and a welcome substitute to the usual drum solo on this song.
“Gaia” gave way to a world debut off the new album “Petrodragonic Apocalypse”: “Witchcraft”. It’s got everything a Gizz fan wants: fast metal riffs, prog rock breakdowns, and a healthy dash of the occult. “Witchcraft” is a keeper for sure and transitioned seamlessly into some older metal: “Self-Immolate”.
Here we were graced with our typical indulgent “Cavs” Cavanaugh drum solo to start the song. No one I know complains about a Gizz drum solo because Cavs has to be one of the hardest and most creative working drummers on the planet.
What came next should convince any remaining skeptics that Gizz is indeed a jam band or at least well on its way. “Boogieman Sam” was MASSIVE, featuring several of Gizz’s rare covers. Partial snippets of Muddy Water’s “Got My Mojo Working”, “My Babe” by Little Walter, and “Going up the Country” by Canned Heat found their way into the song. I think the band does a great job pulling these songs into their own style of blues jam, paying homage to the greats while still innovating in a killer blues R&B style.
The 2022 jam combo of “Magma” and “Lava” returned after a short tuning break. “Magma” was a bit darker and jazzier than usual, featuring the usual creeping tempo of the song but with Kenny-Smith’s up-beat sax notes among an excellent sludgy jam.
“Lava” brought its usual vocal repetition that will turn some people off but this was my first live “Lava” and it hit particularly emotionally as the six members slowly built to the discordant crescendo yelling “LLLAAAVVVAAA!!!!” at the top of their lungs.
At the conclusion of the geology lesson, Walker screamed “WE HAVE ONE MORE SONG MOTHERFUCKERS!” into the mic. I took a look at my watch to see 15 minutes left until curfew and “Head On/Pill” was the choice to close. Lazing into the floaty, dreamy psych rock verses typical of 2013’s Float Along- Fill Your Lungs, “Head On/Pill” began with its usual non-sense lyrics about a trip on the wrong pill and quickly broke down into jams. McKenzie and Kenny-Smith got into various levels of undress for the final moments of the show, shedding their dresses and sharing the front of the stage with Walker to jam one last blues “Head On/Pill” breakdown to end the evening.
What an INCREDIBLE night; it ended up being my favorite of the four. Clearly the boys had more than warmed up by this point and every night seemed to top the next. “Witchcraft”, “Boogie Man Sam”, and “Head On/Pill” were easily highlights for me and these were just a few moments in a show to remember. Maybe the boys should play in drag more often, it clearly made for one hell of a night!
The Caverns Amphitheater: Acoustic Night
To end the Caverns run, Gizzard hosted an additional Acoustic night to please rabid fans. I was absolutely stoked to catch this acoustic show, as the number of Gizz acoustic sets can still be counted on one hand for a band that tours relentlessly.
After some lightning threatened to cancel the show, we finally settled near the sound board upon being let back into the venue. VIP order had absolutely broken down and everyone in front had left their seats to form an impromptu pit at the very front of the stage: the frenzied anticipation for a chill evening was palpable.
Immediately, one could tell their stage presence and banter was different. As a band that plays some of the most difficult music on the planet, it was easy to tell several members had already pregamed the show in anticipation of an “easy” evening. The boys deserved a break after 3 scorching nights and as I would come to learn, relaxed playing doesn’t mean loose.
Launching into a deep cut immediately, “Steel Sheet Flyer” from jazz favorite Quarters! had its acoustic debut. Honestly, I can’t confirm that I’ve ever heard this song in its entirety before but it is absolutely killer live. Even the studio version meanders along but I didn’t know it was possible to get even chiller.
In a move no one expected, “Han-Tyumi the Confused Cyborg” also made its acoustic debut. I say “no one expected” because this song is off a scorching rock-metal album that uses text-to-speech narration of an emulated robot. This was the last thing I expected to hear acoustic and exactly on brand for King Gizzard.
“Han-Tyumi the Confused Cyborg” somehow seemingly transitioned into two slower songs off eclectic collection Oddments: “Sleepwalker” and “It’s Got Old”. Both are can’t miss for fans of Gizz’s lighter vocals, as McKenzie’s higher notes are the star on both tracks.
Next was what I’m calling the “wet section”. Muddy Water -> The River -> Wah Wah -> The River featured a mostly continuous jam. At this point in their career, “Wah-Wah” and “The River” might as well be the same song with different lyrics but I’m never upset with an acoustic “River” and the transitions between the two songs are so imperceptible at this point, its scary good.
Kenny-Smith dedicated the next song “Let me Mend the Past” to his father. The late Broderick Smith was a member of The Dingoes. He was an Australian music legend who passed a few weeks prior. You could feel the emotion in Kenny-Smith’s voice as he belted out lyric after lyric and it made for a tear jerking performance. Kenny-Smith concluded the song only for Cavanaugh to come out from behind his drum kit for a hug.
Two songs off Gizzard’s acoustic folk album Paper Mache Dream Balloon were up next. Both “Trapdoor” and “The Bitter Boogie” feature folksy up beat acoustic playing but house dark lyrics. Still, it was a dream to hear these songs acoustically how they appear on the studio album.
At the conclusion of “The Wheel”, McKenzie quickly ran off stage to grab a six pack and a bottle of champagne. Upon his return, the champagne wasn’t long for this world and quickly left the bottle to soak the crowd. McKenzie saved a little for everyone in the band however and ran to give each of them a sip while they played the intro to “Presumptuous”, returning exactly in time for his guitar entrance. Its moments like these that make the acoustic set special: simply seeing the banter and antics of the band in a goofy show atmosphere.
Another Omnium Gatherium hit “Ambergris” featured Craig and Kenny-Smith sitting side by side on the piano for this acoustic take on funk. As Walker put it in the improv intro, “Ambergris” is about “when a whale gets sexy. And he feels a little sick. And it throws up some fucking expensive shit”. Cool to hear acoustic but I prefer when they can get a little electronic to really up the funk.
Two love songs followed to conclude the show; Walker dedicated “Most of What I Like” to his partner. This song was far more upbeat and bluesy than usual, with yet another covered tease, this time Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You”.
Either of the slow jams are good to close a show but “Her and I (Slow Jam 2)” was the choice tonight. While there was no true jamming or as much improv as usual with its shortened song length, it still provided a nice emotional cap to the evening and sent us into the night chiller than ever.
This run of shows at The Caverns was truly one for a modern jam band age. As McKenzie commented on stage one evening, the camping and music experience truly captured the spirit of festivals or events of the past like Woodstock but with only one headliner. Each show held something special, staying true to their psych rock roots while simultaneously pushing the bounds of music to unique places.
From the frenzied energy of Night 1 to the chilled stupor of Night 4, nearly everything seemed to be considered and curated by the band to provide one hell of an experience for the fans. I’m constantly impressed by what King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard has to offer and I still had six more shows on the calendar!
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