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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.
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King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard celebrated Pride Month in rural Tennessee by dressing in drag at their third show in a row at The Caverns Saturday.
The band debuted “Witchcraft,” the fourth song they have live-debuted in as many shows on this U.S. Residency Tour. The song is off the forthcoming LP, PetroDragonic Apocalypse, which is due out June 16.
And guitarist Joey Walker, looking ahead to tonight’s acoustic theme, wondered out loud about the whereabouts of the Nashville-based guitar virtuoso Billy Strings.
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Photo courtesy of Surprise Chef. Catch them tonight in Minneapolis or anywhere on their June or August/September tours of mostly the U.S. (two stops in Toronto and Vancouver).
Of course, my two favorite bands from Australia have to be touring here in the U.S. at the exact time, with no overlapping stops.
So, if I weren’t down in Tennessee to catch King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard underground at The Caverns, I’d be underground err in the basement of First Avenue, catching Surprise Chef play at 7th Street Entry.
Tickets are surprisingly still available here. I say, surprisingly, because, not only are we talking about Surprise Chef, but because the venue holds less than 250 people. 250 lucky motherfuckin’ people.
This funky, jazzy and psychedelic bunch of instrumentalists begin their 11-show North American tour (with one stop north of the border in Toronto) tonight in Minneapolis. Luckily, the band also announced another North American tour in August and September (man, it would be cool to catch them in Vancouver on Sept. 1).
Check out their bandcamp page here. They blends a lot of different styles of music into their sound, which is like a mix of funk, blues, jazz, soul, and hip-hop. It has that vintage 70s feel that sounds as if it’s coming off turntables. One day, probably long in the future, hip-hop producers will sample the shit out Surprise Chef, and other bands from today that are curating these precious sounds.
They just put out a new album, the EP Friendship on Big Crown Records yesterday.
Man, I sure hope that small room in the basement of First Avenue is packed for them.
They move on to Chicago’s Empty Bottle (click venue hyperlinks for tickets) Sunday, June 4; Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids, Mich., June 7; the Magic Bag in Ferndale, Mich., June 8; Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, June 9; Photo City Music Hall in Syracuse, N.Y., June 10; No Fun in Troy, N.Y., June 11; Brighton Music Hall in Boston, June 14; Jonny Brenda’s in Philadelphia, June 15; Metro Gallery in Baltimore, June 16; and lastly Bowery Ballroom in New York, June 17.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard gave fans the live debut of “Astroturf,” at the second of two shows in the underground amphitheater at The Caverns in Pelham, Tenn., June 2. It was the first time the band played live anything off their last album, Changes, released last October. That was one highlight in a show full of highlights, with inspired jamming and great song selection including four songs from the 2014 album I’m In Your Mind Fuzz to start the show and “K.G.L.W” to close it out loud.
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Jam in the Stream’s show story for Night 1 at The Caverns June 1, 2023. This writeup is a working document, with updates forthcoming.
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McBess in the music video for “Ball Pit,” which he tells much about the making of in this interview with Jam in the Stream conducted in London back in late February.
If you like chill psychedelic music but don’t already know about Mcbaise, you should probably read this. Heck, if you do know about him, you will want to read this lengthy piece based on an interview conducted at a London pub with the musician and illustrator behind the project, McBess. It was a wide-ranging interview that touched a lot on what inspires the artist. He also opines about King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, if you read deep enough. Mcbaise is one of the biggest musical geniuses that nobody has ever heard of. Now you know.
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The Minnesota Zoo will take the opportunity to educate concert goers about conservation at their “Wild Nights” live music series, which has nine four-hour music festivals each with a different musical theme. Each will also highlight a different animal species. Photo provided
The Minnesota Zoo has brought back live music, which was ended during the pandemic. While five shows were held last year, there will be nine such events this year, each with a themed night and all local musical performers, including Chicken Wire Empire, The Cactus Blossoms, Frogleg and Mae Simpson.
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KGLW.net has been started by a community of talented King Gizz fans. This piece was done by member d00knation for the site for promotional purposes.
KGLW.net, one of several fan sites for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, went live with a major upgrade to its website last week. I’m honored to have penned a guest column on the site about the experience of my March travels in Europe following the band through five countries. Here’s a link to that column. But the upgraded site, which now uses Songfish software, is going to be an incredibly comprehensive resource chronicling the Australian psychedelic rock band’s setlists, the band’s history, interviews, recordings of the band’s wildly improvisational live performances, and much more. It’s also a place to head to for live setlist updates as the band is performing, though each show will still go through the more rigorous review process outlined below. I’m going to tell you all about the site here, starting with the aforementioned software upgrade.
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Screenshot of a robed Ambrose Kenny-Smith on the just-released “Gila Monster” music video, posted to King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s Youtube channel today.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard don’t appear to be short on creativity at the moment. Ahead of their U.S. residency tour, which kicks off in Boston May 28, the band just released a music video for “Gila Moster” and is planning to drop their 24th studio album on June 16.
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Jam in the Stream was on site for Phish’s Hollywood Bowl run at the end of their 2023 Spring Tour on the West Coast. This is the first of three show write-ups of those shows, this being of the third and final show of the run, on April 23, 2023.
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King Gizz fans will be better able to understand and track the band’s setlists thanks to improvements made to kglw.net, the King Gizz fan site that was launched late last year. The site is now using Songfish, a software service was developed out of efforts to do the same thing at Phish.net.
Read MoreJam in the Stream’s photo gallery from Frogleg’s headlining gig at The Hook and Ladder Theater in Minneapoilis Saturday, April 29. Duluth’s New Salty Dog and Minneapolis’ Apocalypse Girlfriend opened up.
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Frogleg plans to record a new album this year, but first they are working on getting their acoustic jam, “Frogleg UnCroaked,” released in July.
Minneapolis’ Frogleg has a lot in store this year, starting with Saturday’s show at The Hook and Ladder Theater. Don’t miss the show featuring Duluth’s New Salty Dog and Minneapolis-based Apocalypse Girlfriend. Frogleg is working on releasing its acoustic set from February recorded at KJ’s Hideway, “Frogleg UnCroaked.” The band is planning on recording a new album later this year.
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