There’s isn’t consensus on which of the first two King Gizz shows at Chicago’s Salt Shed had more fire.
One thing, Monday night’s show wasn’t so cold.
I’ll also note the speaker stacks were raised for this show and not the obstruction they were the night before, making me think they may have been lowered for safety reasons because Sunday was so windy. The projector screen was also modified and larger than it was the night before, giving that amazing element to the band’s show more of a showcase.
The band wasted zero time working the crowd into a frenzy, opting for “Rattlesnake,” the heavy, catchy and repetitive favorite from 2017’s Flying Microtonal Banana.
That placed the yellow, flying banana guitar in frontman Stu Mackenzie’s hands.
The song is always hot when pulled out, and this one was even hotter than most versions.
It did include “Sleep Drifter” quotes and teases for the second time as of late. The amazing “setlist wizard” team at KGLW.net also picked up “Honey” quotes. Check out their full notated setlist here.
Mackenzie also improvised the song’s namesake.
“Rattle, fucking, rattle”
The band then moved into “Honey,” from 2020’s K.G. LP.
Mackenzie used his deep, what I like to call frog’s breath vocal effect, on this version. The band also teased back to “Rattlesnake.” The jam they played out of Honey was hot, highlighted by some fire harmonica from Ambrose Kenny-Smith, the three guitarists, and bassist Lucas Harwood.
Fans were happy that the band went for “Shanghai” next off of 2021’s Butterfly 3000, probably because it highlights the high and beautiful range of Kenny-Smith’s voice. The song got real spacey on the synthesizers, I think synthier than normal. The band’s equipment team had set up a dual-sided synth station on stage, which is not always brought out. It allowed for both Mackenzie and guitarist Joey Walker to man opposing sides of it, as they did on this track.
The crowd also provided some clapping late in the song, showing how excited they were for this song early in the set.
The band next went with two in a row off their last LP, Changes, with “Hate Dancin’,” and “Astroturf.” These are the only two songs that band has ever played live off the album, and they were both debuted on this tour.
Kenny-Smith’s vocals on “Hate Dancin’” will melt your heart and make people wonder how he can sound that way.
“Astroturf” got wicked psychedelic in this version, and Mackenzie again went to his frog’s breath vocal effect, specifically to the second half of the line, “This is where I will die.”
He then absolutely destroyed his flute solo. I’m not sure anyone has ever owned a flute in the modern music setting the way Mackenzie has been, and I do love me some Yusef Lateef, the late jazz multi-instrumentalist and weirdo that does remind me of these zany Aussies.
Harwood’s funky bass play late in this song is filthy.
“Down the Sink,” guitarist Cook Craig’s song off 2017’s Gumboot Soup was next. I just love the absolutely genius lyrical delivery of this number, and it was definitely extended, with some sax play from Kenny-Smith.
“Down the sink
Back and forth follow the stream the city is bleak forget all your dreams”
“Invisible Face” from 2016’s Nonagon Infinity got experimental and jammy and it flowed into “Wah Wah” off the same album.
Wah Wah is sometimes played inside the song “The River,” which the band had played on the previous night, and in this version, they teased back to the song they clearly played for the adjacent Chicago River. My good homie that I watched that show with Sunday thought there were “Fire on the Mountain” teases in “The River.” Going to have to give that one a real hard listen soon.
“Road Train” was a third song from Nonagon Infinity.
“Ice V” from 2022’s Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava, a go-to song, was about as funky as they play it. Go back and listen to this version, and Harwood again shined with more down and dirty bass play here.
Then it was a trio of songs off 2017’s Polygondwanaland, with “Inner Cell,” “Loyalty” and “Horology.”
“Supercell,” off the forthcoming PetroDragonic Apocalypse or Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation Of Planet Earth And The Beginning of Merciless Damnation (Due June 16) was getting the show near its completion, as rain moved into the area.
“We got some rain coming so we got to get rid of this bitch,” Mackenzie told the crowd. The combination of Harwood and drummer Michael Cavanagh late in the song was thunderous.
“Self-Immolate,” started out with a drum solo from Cavanagh, and I couldn’t help but wonder what impact the band’s attendance at Dead & Company’s Saturday night show at Wrigley Field, where the departing Dead played “Drums & Space,” may have had on this moment. The band does often sit down and turn to Cavanagh during their solos. Here they all seemed to improvise with him. It was sick. I’m thankful Mackenzie has gone down the Grateful Dead rabbit hole in recent years.
The show ended with “Am I In Heaven?” off their 2014 psychedelic classic I’m In Your Mind Fuzz.
Mackenzie said, ‘Hopefully we have something left for tomorrow.”
The way this band has played throughout this 15-show tour, Mackenzie was just being modest.