About that King Gizzard show in Milwaukee (Sept. 4, 2024)
THE SKINNY: This band has been on fire on this tour, and particularly the last several shows in Nashville, Chicago and Minneapolis. I didn’t think the band could keep upping the ante, but they did just that at Milwaukee’s Miller High Life Theatre.
THE SETLIST: The Dripping Tap, Field of Vision, Hot Water -> Raw Feel, God Is Calling Me Back Home, The Garden Goblin, Magenta Mountain, Chang'e -> Extinction, Planet B, Converge > Witchcraft, Gaia > Gila Monster > Gaia, Billabong Valley > Honey > Sleep Drifter, K.G.L.W. (Outro)
For KGLW.net’s full, detailed setlist, head here.
BIG-TIME BUST-OUT: The band played “God Is Calling Me Back Home,” off 2013’s Float Along — Fill Your Lungs, a song they hadn’t played in 580 shows, according to KGLW.net. The song was last played on June 12, 2015 at Bonnaroo. KGLW’s listing said the song was played as part of a secret set at The Backyard, not the main stage set they would have played earlier in the day.
IMPROVISATION: This was one of the jammiest shows I’ve seen this band play. The band opened with a nearly 22-minute “The Dripping Tap.” It doesn’t matter to me and most jam fans that some of this improvisation doesn’t fit into the normal mold of what the uninformed consider jam. Improvisation is at the heart of the jam, and I’ll point directly to the improv following “Gaia” before they launched into “Gila monster” as a case in point. On Dripping Tap, KGLW.net noted that a lyric was changed to ”Time of our Milwaukee,” and “Le Risque” was quoted. … “Hot Water” had both “Am I In Heaven?” And “The Dripping Tap” teases, and it got particularly bluesy and psychedelic in part thanks to Ambrose’s harmonica. … I loved the transition to “Raw Feel,” which also carried on that harmonica-driven blues jam vibe. … The jammy “Magenta Mountain” contained both “Slow Jam 1” and “Crumbling Castle” teases. The end of Magenta saw Stu on guitar and Joey going off together. … That jamtronica vibe, with most members now at the station, continued into “Chang’e” and Cavs hit the gong, right before “Magenta Mountain” was teased. “Witchcraft” was also quoted in “Chang’e.” … “Magenta Mountain” was again teased in “Extinction.”
“Gaia” was highly improvisational. Joey laid down evil vocal effects. Cavs led a drum part that his ‘mates riffed on. Then the band followed along with Cavs for quite a bit until he launched “Gila Monster.” This version of “Gaia” > “Gila Monster” > “Gaia” was top shelf, and the outro is just the cherry on top, with more Cavs handiwork at the very end. In all the section went about 18 minutes.
“Michael Cavanagh on the bloody drums, everybody.”
I’ll get more into Amby’s “Billabong Valley” hijinks below but one of the best parts of him going out looking for popcorn at the beginning of this song, and holding off singing, is that the band had to stretch the intro, which led to the “Sleep Drifter” tease. It was just top level improv from Stu and Joey on guitar. The band did nearly stop as he made his way back to stage, but slow-rolled the main Billabong theme back up. KGLW.net also has a “Honey” tease on this song, but I missed it. … The intro to “Honey” had a “Sleep Drifter” tease. … The intro to “Sleep Drifter” had a “Billabong Valley” tease.
OUT FOR A METAL: While Minneapolis’ show may have been a little light on heavier metal than some would prefer, Milwaukee’s show had a pretty deep section of metal, starting with “Planet B” off 2019’s Infest The Rat’s Nest. Then it was two in a row off last year’s PetroDragonic Apocalypse in “Converge” into “Witchcraft.” While some folks seem to prefer “Gaia” into “Motor Spirit,” the band indulged the coupling I prefer in “Gaia,” off of 2022’s Omnium Gatherum, into “Gila monster,” another off PDA and then back to “Gaia” for that amazing outro. While “K.G.L.W. (Outro)” may lean towards the more alternative metal side of things, it’s a heavy-song that was the perfect exclamation point on one of the best Gizz shows I’ve ever seen (my 31st).
A HIGHER FREQUENCY: Lucas Harwood’s baseline on “Hot Water” really stood out, despite all going on with Stu Mackenzie singing and wielding his flute. Despite his impact as a bassist, his important role is sometimes hard to zero in on because of the depth of playing talent in this band. It may not be picked up on the band’s free live stream, but his bass hit me hard in the chest standing in Miller High Life Theatre’s pit.
FLIGHT b741: Most of the shows this tour have had at least three, if not four songs played from the band’s latest album. For the third time this tour, the band played two only songs off the album, “Field of Vision” and “Raw Feel.”
SYNTH TABLE: For the second “regular” show in a row, the band’s synthesizer table was utilized for about 40 minutes. It was lightly used during Cook’s “The Garden Goblin,” and then more extensively on “Magenta Mountain.” Both songs are off Omnium Gatherum. On those two, both Cook and Amby stayed at their normal keyboard stations on opposite wings of the stage, Stu was on guitar and Joey Walker was at the synth table. … The band attempted to play “Magenta Mountain” in Minneapolis the night before but couldn’t thanks to technical difficulties. Walker noted that, and remained as the only member to man the station. Then it was used for a pair of songs off last year’s The Silver Cord LP, with “Chang’e” and “Extinction,” a section that lent itself to some trippy EDM improv. Most of the band was at the table for much of this section.
MAJORLY MICROTONAL: Stu pulled out his Flying Microtonal Banana, the inspiration of the band’s 2017 LP of the same name, late in the show. It was used on the last four songs of the show with FMB’s “Billabong Valley,” K.G.’s (2020) “Honey,” FMB’s “Sleep Drifter” and the show’s closer, “K.G.L.W. (outro)” off 2021’s L.W.
Screenshot grab from King Gizzard’s free live stream. Amazingly, the band has been producing and streaming live shows of almost every show on this tour for free on YouTube.
HIJINKS: Right after Stu Mackenzie pulled out his banana guitar, and as the band started up “Billabong Valley,” the song’s lead singer, Ambrose Kenny-Smith, who often carries the guitar around during the song more as a prop, bolted off the stage and into the crowd in search of popcorn, disappearing out of sight, and eventually making his way up to the venue’s top balcony. This did hold up the band, which kept riffing on the song but could not set into this Australian folklore song until Amby was ready to sing. Finally, at the edge of the balcony, he started singing the song which was reminiscent of his own antics.
“Outlaw on the run, faster than a stolen gun.”
Mid-song, Amby, ran back to the stage, grabbing a large bag of popcorn on his way back, which her showered the crowd with, and stuffed into his face, in between finishing his vocals.
QUOTES: “Umm, we love Milwaukee,” Walker said after playing “Field of Vision.” It was hard to make out exactly what he said in person and even harder on the stream, but he seemed to be saying he preferred it to Chicago, which definitely stoked the ’Scone crowd. As an adopted Minnesotan that grew up in Chicago, I’m just going to note that the band’s Sketches in Brunswick East LP is a collaboration with Mild High Club, a psychedelic band from Milwaukee. Oops. Did I say Milwaukee? I meant Chicago. … The band congratulated Cook Craig for his new Pipe-Eye single that had been released the night before, ahead of the band playing “The Garden Goblin.”