King Gizzard’s tour finale at Hollywood Bowl Wednesday was one part tribute and one part victory lap, a three-hour exclamation point on an incredible tour that never let off the gas, rain or shine, for 15 shows.
Especially the last.
The show started off with a four-song tribute to Broderick Smith, who initially was to perform (likely those same) songs from the 2013 Eyes Like The Sky LP, the band’s second album.
Smith wrote and narrated the album, which is something like a Spaghetti Western audio book.
Smith is the father of the band’s entertainer/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Ambrose Kenny-Smith. Smith profoundly influenced both Kenny-Smith and the band itself, and it is plain to see. Smith was a British-born Australian entertainer, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who fronted several Australian rock bands such as Sundown, Carson, and the Dingoes.
It was the first time these songs have been performed in the U.S., according to the setlist database at KGLW.net (check out their fully noted setlist here), and the band had chose the right time and place, their tour finale in Hollywood, at the largest venue the band ever headlined in this country (at 17,500-person capacity).
But Smith died about a month before this tour was to kick off, and many wondered if the band would still touch the material until the band played some of it during the sound check that day.
The first four songs in the set have been rarely played and were dedicated to Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s late father, Broderick Smith. Photo by Javier Serna
Gizzard, inside the giant Hollywood Bowl dome, had set up a tall, maybe 30-foot high LED screen from which the band’s artist, Jason Galea, displayed his mind-blowing images behind the band.
The show began with a video clip of Smith joking about the band’s name, and then several black and white images of Smith were incorporated into the imagery on the LED screen throughout the first four songs.
“We’re going to play for a very long time now, so you may need to pee yourself,” said guitarist Joey Walker.
But Kenny-Smith quickly nodded to what exactly was up first: a tribute to his father.
“We are going to do something special,” he said. “That was my dad. My dad was supposed to be here today to play some songs with us but he sadly passed away. So this one’s for my dad.”
Three of these Eyes songs had last been played in Melbourne, Australia on Dec. 1, 2018, with Broderick Smith part of that performance.
The title track, “Eyes Like The Sky,” had only been played twice before according to KGLW.net.
“Year Of Our Lord,” was played only once before, while “The Raid,” had been played three times before.”
“Evil Man,” the last of these songs, had been played three times before, but not since a show in London back in 2016, according to KGLW.net.
Ambrose’s melancholy harmonica wails on “Evil Man” each sounded like an emotional message in a bottle for his dad.
Kenny-Smith is embraced by frontman Stu Mackenzie, moments before Walker did the same, following the band performing four rarely-played songs that the late Smith both wrote and narrated for the band’s second LP, Eyes Like The Sky. Photo by Junichi Koganemaru (Instagram: @kingfishies)
After the song, Stu Mackenzie and Walker both embraced their musical brother in an emotional moment.
The band also took the break to thank fans who attended multiple shows, and there were many who did the entire tour.
Photo by Junichi Koganemaru (Instagram: @kingfishies)
The band then launched into a loud, metal segment of songs, starting with “Rattlesnake,” the only song they played this night from 2017’s Flying Microtonal Banana. It was the fourth time they played the song on the tour.
Next was “Pleura” from 2021’s L.W. LP. This was also the only song played this night from that album.
“Gaia,” was one of six songs that were played this night from 2022’s double LP Omnium Gatherum. As it has been performed on this tour, the song was not finished when the band segued to “Gila Monster,” the first of three songs from the just released PetroDragonic Apocalypse Or Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation Of Planet Earth And The Beginning of Merciless Damnation.
The song, with its “Gila!” chant worked the pool section, or pit floor, into a moshy froth, and then the band segued back to finish off the outro portion of “Gaia.”
“Supercell,” and “Witchcraft,” also off PetroDragonic kept up the show’s now thrash metal feel, and the second “Organ Farmer” of the tour was played, keeping things metal. The song is from 2017’s Infest the Rats’ Nest. That had to please the one dude who waited in line for the show earlier and had written “Organ Farmer” all over his body in black marker.
Then it was two favorites off 2017’s Polygondwanaland in “Crumbling Castle,” and “The Fourth Colour.”
King Gizzard’s artist, Jason Galea, blows minds, whether it’s the lights and visual display during the performance or show prints, of which he produced every poster for this tour. Photo by Javier Serna
The first of those got synthed-up a notch by Walker, to shift the tone near the end of this loud banger, with Kenny-Smith throwing in some perfectly-placed harmonica in, too, as the band segued to “Fourth Colour.” Kenny-Smith kept up that harmonica here, too, and he was about to get back into the spotlight.
Walker cued up his go-to dirty techno funk beat as Mackenzie started playing the flute at the beginning of “The Grim Reaper,” the first of two songs in a row from Omnium.
The song is a nod to the Beastie Boys, a fact that Kenny-Smith has now acknowledged in at least the last two performances. He spent a portion of this song out hovering above the crowd, stalking the pool ledge that separates what is the pit from the garden section of the venue.
Twice Kenny-Smith walked into the crowd, using the “pool” wall ledge separating the pit from the garden section of the venue, first doing it here on “The Grim Reaper,” his nod to the Beastie Boys. Photo by Junichi Koganemaru (instagram: @kingfishies)
As he did the last time the band played it, Kenny-Smith included “Intergalacatic,” quotes from the Beastie’s 1998 Hello Nasty LP.
“That’s some white boy trash rap for ya,” Kenny-Smith said as the song slowed down to the techno beat, but then cranked up for him to repeatedly quote both, “Another dimension,” and “Intergalactic planetary.”
In the break, Kenny-Smith joked, “That’s what you get when you smoke bongs at 8 years old.”
The Hollywood Bowl dome was painted magenta for “Magenta Mountain.” Photo by Javier Serna
Walker stayed on his synth station as the dome was colored magenta for the fourth “Magenta Mountain” of the tour.
“What do you mean?
You can’t see it?
Life must be a dream
A living fantasy
Disappeared in hot air
Magenta mountain”
Cook Craig, the band’s multi-instrumentalist who plays mostly either guitar or keyboard, led “Down the Sink,” from the 2017 LP Gumboot Soup. It was the third time that song was played on this tour, but prior to that, the band played it only once, last year, since 2019, according to the KGLW.net database.
It’s a funky song that features Craig’s quirky and catchy vocal style.
“Down the sink
Back and forth
Follow the stream
The city is bleak
Forget all your dreams”
Next was “Astroturf,” the first song the band debuted off their final 2022 LP Changes. The band debuted three songs from the LP on this tour (and had yet to do so before then), and this song was first at The Caverns on June 2. The song showcases the abilities of bass player Lucas Harwood. This version featured a heavy synthesizer sound.
When drummer Michael Cavanagh took a drum solo at the end of “Astroturf,” the rest of the band sprinted off stage briefly. If it wasn’t clear why they did that, they let the cat out of the bag later in the set when Cavanagh also sprinted off stage.
“Shanghai” off 2021’s Butterfly 3000 was next. It was played four times total on the tour, and fans were particularly happy every time it was played. It was another place where Kenny-Smith’s high vocal range is on display.
“The Garden Goblin,” was the next song from Omnium to get played, and it was another moment for Craig to shine, as he leads vocals.
This kicked off six songs to end the show that were all among the five LPs the band released in 2022.
“Ambergris,” Walker’s soul-funk song from Omnium saw him and Mackenzie on guitar and Craig and Kenny-Smith on keyboards.
This song about the by-product of sperm whales also feels like a love letter from Walker to Kenny-Smith, a notion that Walker seemed to poke at, ad-libbing “Ambrose,” late in the song instead of “Ambergris.”
“Hey, that’s me,” Kenny-Smith responded.
When the song ended, Cavanagh ran off the stage, while Walker shouted out to Kamikaze Palm Tree, the band that opened for King Gizz between their Tennessee and Seattle-area dates. They did not open at the Hollywood Bowl.
And the band would not afford Cavanagh the same dignity he allowed them during his drum solo.
“If he’s taking a shit, we’re going to be here all night,” Kenny-Smith joked.
Cavanagh’s absence was brief.
The band then played “Iron Lung,” the first of two songs from 2022’s Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava. This song, a go-to late-show song in their March tour of Europe, was played for the third time on this tour. They played it early in the tour twice before shelving it until Los Angeles. It’s a soulful song that has vocal back-and-forth between Mackenzie and Kenny-Smith.
“Staying sane and positive
Can’t crumble like a biscuit”
The song rolled right into “Hypertension,” another soulful song, this one off Laminated Denim.
“Magma,” off Ice, Death was a funky yet heavy option to set up the closing spot.
“The Dripping Tap,” gave Kenny-Smith one last time to shine in the show and tour. First, Kenny-Smith dedicated the song to Cavanagh’s dad and “my music teacher who said my voice sounded weird. Look at me now, fuckhead.”
He apologized before heading back out into the crowd, with extra wire necessary, to sing from the top ledge of the pool wall.
“Sorry guys, last time, last time, I swear to God,” he said.
Then he and the band cranked out “The Dripping Tap,” a song that was recorded at 18 minutes in the studio. This version had “Cellophane” and “Hot Water” teases.
“The dripping tap won’t be turned off by the suits in charge of the world
and our future’s hanging on by a thread with our heads in the sand”
It was the perfect way to close out a tour nobody wanted to end.
As usual, the band ended the show throwing out setlists on other show memorabilia to their fans. Photo by Javier Serna