About that King Gizzard show in Philadelphia.
I had never been to The Dell Music Center, but it reminded me in some ways of the nearby Mann Center, where I have seen Phish play (2022).
King Gizz played a hell of a show at the Dell.
I was a little worried about the way the show started out because I was bringing a long-time friend to his first Gizz show and he isn’t big into heavy metal.
The band started out with three heavy bangers in “Minimum Brain Size,” off 2020’s K.G. LP, “Doom City,” off 2017’s Flying Microtonal Banana LP and “Static Electricity,” off 2021’s L.W. LP.
Gizz bandleader Stu Mackenzie started the show with the yellow flying microtonal banana guitar, which he utilized on these first three songs.
“Minimum Brain Size,” which only days before in Detroit had been dedicated to Donald Trump by Joey Walker, was played pretty straightforward.
“East West Link,” off the L.W., was next and hadn’t been played in 78 shows according to KGLW.net.
Walker noted that Mackenzie had been wearing the same “singlet” aka wife-beater style tank top, for the last two and a half weeks.
“And it smells fucking crazy,” Walker said.
“I’m an old school hippie,” Mackenzie said.
Ambrose Kenny-Smith wanted everyone to know that Stu “showered before the show.”
Before the band got into “Daily Blues,” drummer Michael “Cavs” Cavanagh teased Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.”
“Daily Blues” is another song off the new LP, Flight b741, that hasn’t had enough time to bounce around in my head, but where this version ended up nudged it into my brain’s “like” column, with a bluesy, jammy vibe, as Kenny-Smith added a bit of harmonica as he and Mackenzie took care of the vocals.
This version seamlessly flowed right into “Hot Water,” off 2014’s I’m in Your Mind Fuzz LP, Mackenzie taking up his flute.
I have a feeling this is where things started to really click for my friend.
This “Hot Water” had a jam that covered a bit of territory, including quotes from “Antarctica,” “Float Along - Fill Your Lungs,” and “Shanghai.”
KGLW.net noted other unknown possibly unreleased quotes in the segment.
“Grow wings and fly,
Let’s get real high”
Next up was “Antarctica,” which had been just quoted.
I have to admit, this song has become my favorite off the new album. I can relate to its main character, personally having been over-exposed to summer heat the last few weeks. I had a severe reaction to the heat on the closing daytime set at Phish’s Mondegreen festival, and that’s forced me to sit out several shows on this tour, including Boston, Cleveland, Newport, and Richmond.
“I can’t help but hate the heat”
The song has major vocal contributions from Kenny-Smith, Cook Craig and Mackenzie.
If some Gizz fans don’t like the LP, hey, you can’t account for taste. But don’t tell me there’s nothing good about their latest LP. I’ll go as far to say that “Antarctica” has lyrical brilliance written throughout.
It was the first of three in a row off the new LP, with “Sad Pilot,” and “Le Risque” also played.
The latter has grown on me in part because of Cavs’ vocal contributions, which some laughter, and “All right!”
It also features a bit of Kenny-Smith racing back and forth on stage, and enthusiastically greeting Evil Kneviel.
If my buddy wasn’t sure about this Australian Gizzard band, I knew the moment Kenny-Smith hinted at “The River,” with his harmonica that he was bound to be won over.
The song off 2015’s “Quarters” LP is one of Gizz’s most jammy. I’ve managed to witness some incredible versions of this song. This Philly version will go down as a memorable one. It contained “Gilgamesh” and “Ice V” teases.
Its long, windy intro gets dark and frenetic, and Kenny-Smith’s harmonica is haunting at times. Jason Galea, the band’s visual artist, barraged the scene with strobey light beams before the band settled down to a calmer stretch of this River.
Mackenzie and Walker kept things going on this portion, wading in slightly rippled water.
“I feel like I’m on acid right now, fucking me up,” Mackenzie said, mid-song. “I love you so much.”
There was some laughter before Mackenzie launched the song’s main lyrics.
Kenny-Smith’s “Oh, the river,” lines echoed.
They were 20 minutes in before they got to the always-loved outtro section. There was a lot of improvisation from Walker on guitar and Kenny-Smith on harmonica here.
The full River section went about 25 minutes in total.
Cavs hit his gong several times before the band launched into a suite of songs from I’m In Your Mind Fuzz, with “I’m in Your Mind,” “I’m Not in Your Mind,” “Cellophane” and “I’m in Your Mind Fuzz.” There was a “Motor Spirit” tease in “I’m Not in Your Mind,” and Walker’s guitar playing was particularly psychedelic on the back end of this song. There was a “The Land Before Timeland” tease in “Cellophane.”
The stage’s fire alarm went off during “Cellophone,” and someone shouted fire, but the real fire was happening on stage.
The band brought one more heavy dose of metal, with “Planet B” off 2019’s Infest the Rats Nest, and then two off last year’s thrash metal LP, PetroDragonic Apocalypse, with “Dragon,” and “Flamethrower.”
At some point during this last metal stand, I think during “Dragon,” my friend asked what the chances are that the band would get back to jams.
Not high, I told him.
I was wrong, of course, because the band wheeled out their synth station to end the show on two from 2023’s The Silver Cord in “Gilgamesh” into “Set.”
What an end to the show. My friend mentioned the Disco Biscuits here, and I know why.
I particularly enjoyed the rapping from Kenny-Smith on “Gilgamesh,” and Mackenzie’s vocals in general, before the song took many techno twists and turns, the entire band locked in on the station but for Cavs, who was providing the drum beats. “Gilgamesh,” went about 10 minutes before they shifted into “Set,” which had the closing 15 minutes of the show.
“Set” placed here, at the end of the show, is some clever shit, and yeah, Gizz had, indeed, slayed another mighty set.