King Gizzard’s final of four shows at The Caverns in Tennessee was a special one.
Not just because it was one of their rare acoustic performances.
There were so many things worth noting about this one, from some deep jams to a dedication.
The show was delayed because of bad weather in the area, and Kamikaze Palm Tree’s opening set was canceled as a result.
There were also a pair of songs that were on the band’s published setlist that weren’t played, even with the band playing past their cut-off time.
King Gizz sure made up for any inconveniences and missed songs (“Slow Jam 1” and “Sense” didn’t end up getting played).
It started off with “Lonely Steel Sheet Flyer,” off 2015’s Quarters LP, which includes four songs that were all recorded at 10:10 in the studio.
Lonely Steel lent itself to the acoustic guitars, and the initial setup was Stu Mackenzie, Joey Walker and Cook Craig all seated on acoustic guitars, Lucas Harwood on electric bass, Michael Cavanagh on drums and Ambrose Kenny-Smith sitting at a Baldwin piano.
Kenny-Smith was active all night on his harmonica, and that opening song was no exception.
“Thank you for coming to this fucking beautiful place!” Stu Mackenzie said during the song.
Lonely Steel hasn’t been played much lately. According to the KGLW.net database, it was only played once since 2017, last year in Zihuatanejo, Mexico on May 8. Check out KGLW’s setlist for the show here.
This version went a few minutes longer than the studio recording and flowed into “Han-Tyumi, The Confused Cyborg” off of 2017’s Murder of the Universe.
“Sleepwalker” had Kenny-Smith fully engaged on the piano.
“He started playing harmonica when he was like in the womb,” Walker said of Kenny-Smith before the band set into the bluesy “It’s Got Old,” off 2014’s Oddments LP.
This one also hadn’t been played very often, most recently in Wiesbaden, Germany, according to KGLW.net’s database. There was an 83-show gap at that point.
So, this one kicks off with Ambrose’s harmonica sitting on the piano bench.
Mackenzie and Walker did some real nice picking on the front end of “Muddy Water,” off of 2017’s Gumboot Soup. Kenny-Smith also made some improvised jazzy contributions on alto saxophone later in the song.
But the real improvisational dam broke on the next song, as the band returned to the Quarters album and played a lengthy version of “The River.” It sounded so grassy starting out with three guitarists on acoustics, and Mackenzie’s picking seemed so natural, it made me think this song was always meant for the acoustic realm. Kenny-Smith started out on the piano.
As the band moved through the sections of “The River,” the picking intensified, and Kenny-Smith picked his harmonica back up. There were several improvisational threads the band pursued here. Walker seemed to lead guitar on one idea that echoed.
You knew the three guitarists were enjoying themselves as they returned slowly to the original theme because Mackenzie went, “Fuck yeah.”
Then he noted, “The thing about King Gizzard, is, uh.”
Walker chimed in, “Yes?”
“Everyone thinks we just want to go crazy all of the time and shit,” the band’s leader said.
“But we can fucking chill, don’t we?” Walker added.
“We fucking chill hard and shit,” Mackenzie said later in the mid-jam chat (they were about 13 minutes into the segment).
They moved into an unfinished version “Wah Wah,” off 2016’s Nonagon Infinity, before flowing back into The River.
Ambrose’s harmonica work around the 46-minute mark of the embedded video is worth catching.
The guitarists kicked up the tempo at this point before slowing things down, Walker toggling the song’s idea with Mackenzie adding his licks. This was some special stuff here, the band about 20 minutes into this version with still more time to go.
The song’s back end jam was ripped hard by the entire band, including Kenny-Smith who shifted from harmonica back to piano.
“The River,” from beginning to end, including “Wah Wah,” went nearly 26 minutes (from 29:50 to 55:45 in the embedded video.
It was Kenny-Smith’s time to shine.
As the band begun to play “Let Me Mend The Past,” Kenny-Smith said, “I’d like to dedicate this song to my dad.”
Broderick Smith, a noted Australian entertainer, was a huge inspiration to the band, Walker noted. Smith died in April.
Mackenzie took over the piano as Kenny-Smith delivered the vocals, showcasing his range, as he walked around the stage. Cavanagh hugged Kenny-Smith after the song finished, in an emotional moment.
Mackenzie then grabbed his flute as the band went through an acoustic “Trapdoor.”
Ambrose’s work on the piano during the sung portions of this song was beautiful.
So was Mackenzie’s use of his – I’ll call it frog’s breath – vocal effects, just a different kind of beautiful.
The band went to another blues-influenced song in “The Bitter Boogie,” off 2015’s Paper Mâché Dream Balloon.
It was another showcase for Kenny-Smith, who contributed a lot on the keys, harmonica, vocals and sax. The gong also got a little bit of attention from Cavanagh on this song, which was stretched out to nearly 10 minutes.
Kenny-Smith had some extended time on the harmonica, though, on this song, before Walker and Mackenzie picked their guitars and the attention returned to Kenny-Smith on vocals.
“I’ve been grieving for no reason
That seems wise”
“The Wheel,” was played next, and Walker noted it hadn’t been played much lately. The song is off Gumboot Soup.
It had been played nine shows back in Troxy, England, but prior to that it was a 91-show gap according to KGLW.net’s database.
A lot of excellent guitar work by the three guitarists here are the highlight of this version, but Kenny-Smith’s vocals, while he played the piano, were haunting. The song went about eight minutes long.
“With hope to prosper
What can we offer?
Our allegiance surely suffers
Destroying all that will keep us
Heading for a better thesis”
Kenny-Smith had the mic again for “Presumptuous,” the first song of the night from 2022’s Omnium Gatherum.
With Craig on the keys for this one, Mackenzie made use of a bottle of champagne, spraying some on the crowd and sharing some with band members as they played. He then got back on acoustic guitar to do some shredding with his guitar mates.
The show was rounding the bend, but there was still much in store despite the band not getting fully through their planned setlist.
An acoustic “Ambergris,” the second song in a row from Omnium was unique, though it still featured that incredible electric bass line from Harwood.
Craig and Kenny-Smith both shared the piano at the Baldwin and they both worked their side of the piano to great effect on this funky soul song from Walker.
“Most Of What I Like,” came out and might have been the last song, but the band decided to keep playing past 11 p.m. The song hadn’t been played in 70 shows.
“Her and I (Slow Jam II)” closed it out, just one more song that sounded well with the acoustic guitars.