About that King Gizz show in Nashville…
THE SKINNY: We all have different tastes and things we might look for in the Gizz shows we attend, but I can objectively say Saturday night’s show at Ascend Amphitheatre in Nashville was an insane show by Gizz standards (I’ll also note in hindsight that the next three shows on the tour which I was able to attend were all insane in their own ways). But this show included a sit-in, just not the one some fans had been clamoring for in Nashville. The show started heavy, with “Evil Death Roll,” off 2016’s Nonagon Infinity and worked many of the genre bases this band covers from chill psychedelia, the Mind Fuzz suite, thrash metal and ending at the band’s synth table. They also live debuted a song off 2023’s The Silver Cord in “Chang’e.”
THE SETLIST: Evil Death Roll, Field of Vision, Mirage City > Raw Feel, Black Tooth, Work This Time, Le Risque, I'm In Your Mind > I'm Not In Your Mind > Hot Wax > I'm In Your Mind Fuzz, Slow Jam 1, Motor Spirit, Gila Monster, Supercell, Perihelion, Chang'e, Extinction
For the full, detailed setlist, head over here at KGLW.net.
THE SIT-IN: Some fans had publicly pined for a sit-in from Billy Strings, who lives in Nashville. Joey Walker, after all, had seemed to hint at such a possibility last year during the Caverns run. And shortly thereafter Billy Strings and King Gizzard met and hung out at the Way Out West Festival in Sweden, where they were both billed. … But this particular dream sit-in was not in the cards (Billy Strings was rumored to be back in his native Michigan that weekend, though his mandolinist Jarrod Walker and perhaps bassist Royal Masat were said have attended the show). Instead, it was Jay Weinberg that was brought out late in the show to play drums on “Perihelion.” Walker noted that “We’re going to do something that we never ever really do.” Weinberg is a former Slipknot drummer and current drummer for Suicidal Tendencies and Infection Grooves, a pair of 90s era metal bands, the latter which was a side project turned supergroup now featuring current Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and others. It became apparent during the brief appearance that Weinberg has been influential to Gizz drummer Michael Cavanagh, who stood down for the song. Cavs called him one of his very favorite drummers. Weinberg is also son of Max Weinberg, who played in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and led Conan O’Brien’s late night show house band, The Max Weinberg 7. Cavs and Weinberg embraced after the song.
FLIGHT b741: The band didn’t take long to get into their new album, playing “Field of Vision” in the two spot, which launched three consecutive songs from the LP. “Mirage City” into “Raw Feel” were next. A fourth song, “Le Risque” was played later in the set. The song that has grown on me quite a bit this tour. In the live setting, it’s the rare opportunity to see Cavs contribute vocally. He’s hilarious with his delivery of both laughter and his opening line, “All Right!” Plus we get to see Ambrose Kenny-Smith prance around on stage.
BLACK TOOTH: Stu and Joey quizzed the fans in attendance regarding “Black Tooth ,” off 2011’s EP Willoughby’s Beach. There was not a great show of hands (and mine was not among them, in full disclosure). The song hadn’t been played in 118 shows, according to KGLW.net.
THE IMPROV: “Evil Death Roll” had “You Can Be Your Silhouette” and “Field of Vision” teases. The latter would be played later in the show.;The former would be played the next night in Chicago. … “Raw Feel” had a “Witchcraft” tease. … The organ sounds that Cook conjured up in “Work This Time” are worth another listen or 10. The band gets into a nice jam, with that organ sound a feature, that builds to a peak also driven by Cavs’ drum kit. ... The band dedicated “Le Risque” to Johnny Cash. … The Mind Fuzz suite was jammed pretty good, and included Ambrose Kenny-Smith playing saxophone on “I’m Not In Your Mind.” As I’ll mention below, the band switched out “Cellophane” for “Hot Wax.” It’s one worth going back to again and again, at least in My Mind, I don’t know about Yours. … The “Slow Jam 1” was played very well, with some deep improvisation that built to a peak and had Ambrose again on sax. “Hypertension” and “Witchcraft” were both teased in the jam. It seemed fitting since Stu was wearing, for this song only, the Phish-Gizz mockup shirt that I get into more detail about below. This version went about 13 minutes long. … “Motor Spirit” was stretched slightly to almost 10 minutes, a tad longer than it was in the studio. … There was a bit of improvisation throughout the show’s last segment with the synth table pulled out on stage, including an intro jam to “Chang’e.” That jam included “Extinction” quotes and the song also had “Witchcraft” quotes. ... “Extinction” had “Intergalactic” quotes, which has often been quoted during “The Grim Reaper,” another song that is aided with the band’s synth table.
THE METAL: You can always count on Gizz to get thrashy at just about any show they put on, save for their acoustic gigs, but this show didn’t get real heavy until nearly the end. It did start with “Evil Death Roll,” but things didn’t get super heavy until they set in on “Motor Spirit,” the first of three songs off 2023’s PetroDragonic Apocalypse. It was a humid and muggy night in Nashville, and this stretch of music certainly had the pit worked to a sweaty, moshy froth. Next up was “Gila Monster” which brought the mosh pit to a steady bounce. “Supercell” kept the pit moshing. As mentioned above, “Perihelion,” off 2019’s Infest the Rats’ Nest had Jay Weinberg on drums, and the fans didn’t mind the beating he gave Cavs’ drum kit on this song. In all, this thrash section went about 24 minutes long.
Screen shot grab of King Gizz’s official YouTube stream. Every show on this tour has been streamed for free with the exception of Philadelphia.
THANKS TO TREY: Just before the band played a wicked “Slow Jam 1,” (as mentioned above) Stu thanked “friend” Trey Anastasio (Phish guitarist) after a fan, Lane Flexner, passed up his Phish-Gizz mockup shirt. One might have expected such a thing to go down at the Asheville show the night previous, since Flexner lives in Asheville. Flexner, an artist and bootleg shirt producer, got to meet Anastasio during last year’s Gizz shows at Red Rocks. On this night, Stu shouted out to Flexner’s business and then put on the shirt for the one song. As he does whenever he puts on a shirt on stage, he tossed it back in the crowd afterwards.
MIND FUZZ TWIST: The Nashville crowd was treated with I’m In Your Mind Fuzz suite, that went “I’m In Your Mind,” > “I’m Not In Your Mind” > “Hot Wax” (off 2014’s Oddments LP instead of the standard “Cellophane”) > “I’m In Your Mind Fuzz.” As much as I love “Cellophone,” the “Hot Wax” switch-out was so hot.
THE SYNTH TABLE: In one of the Facebook Gizz group posts, one savvy fan noted we should call the table (which has some detractors among the Weirdo Swarm) what it really is: a Live P.A., borrowing terminology from the early underground rave scene. The poster was not wrong, but I’m going to continue to go with synth table here. The table was saved for last in Nashville, and its use on this night was restricted to a pair of songs off The Silver Cord, starting with the live debut of “Chang’e” and closing with “Extinction.” I love that this band is using the table a variety of ways, including playing their various songs that have a lot of electronic influence as well as improvisation.