Tilburg, Netherlands — King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard delivered their most electric set of this tour – fed by incredible crowd energy – three shows into their March 2023 winter tour of Europe and the U.K.
It came in this lesser known but sizable Dutch city (population of about 222,000), halfway between Amsterdam and Brussels, on the third consecutive night of shows, each in a different city in this region of Europe (France and Netherlands).
Not only did some beloved older and newer songs get pulled out for the first time on this tour, but the band also debuted a thrashy new song (“Gila Monster”) that riled the crowd of about 3,000. This was the smallest venue of the tour thus far, but one with a cool European and somewhat modern design, with a general admission floor and a tiered and elevated back of the room, a godsend to those shorter than the person in front of them. The room, opened in 1998, also has a balcony.
King Gizz took a loud tone to open the show with “Open Water,” the first of two songs from 2017’s Flying Microtonal Banana LP.
Thanks to all the Gizz fans that have graciously allowed me to photograph one of the few setlists that were handed out after the shows.
Frontman Stu Mackenzie swayed his body back and forth early in the song, encouraging the crowd that would proceed to bounce to the song’s heavier underpinnings.
Mackenzie, still operating with his custom flying microtonal banana guitar (the one that inspired their 2017 LP) brought out for the opener, began the next song, “Honey,” (off 2020’s K.G. LP) teasing “Billabong Valley.” This version also contained “Automation” and “Rattlesnake” teases (as noted by KGLW.net’s posted setlist available by clicking here).
The crowd went nuts for “Honey,” working up a chant at certain breaks between the lyrics, and then clapping in unison before guitarist Joey Walker sang, “You will taste like honey.”
Ambrose Kenny-Smith with Stu Mackenzie’s microtonal banana on “Billabong Valley.”
Photo by Javier Serna
When the song concluded, Mackenzie handed the microtonal banana to Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Mackenzie assuming Kenny-Smith’s synth and keyboard station as Walker told Kenny-Smith to, “Come and smoke a Billabong.”
They proceeded to play “Billabong Valley,” (also off Flying Microtonal Banana) with Kenny-Smith’s animated vocal delivery of the tales of Australian bushranger Mad Dog Morgan.
The band then played for the second time on this tour “Hypertension,” the heavy, jammy number that makes up half of 2022’s Laminated Denim LP. Mackenzie switched over to his blue Yamaha guitar as the band took this song that lends itself to improvisation for a spin, though this version was about two minutes shorter than the 15-minute studio version.
The good crowd feelings kept flowing as the band opted next for “Garden Goblin,” one of three songs on the night from 2022’s double LP Omnium Gatherum. This one has become a quick favorite, if for no other reason than its lyrics are delivered by Cook Craig on top of the song’s catchy yet quirky storyline. The crowd sang along, their energy continuing to build and they kept it up as Mackenzie serenaded the crowd with a bluesy and slowed down “Iron Lung,” one of two played from 2022’s Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava. It was the second time the song came out on this tour (it was played in Paris tour opener).
The band still cranked the volume up in the song’s meaty center, but that only encouraged more crowd participation.
Mackenzie and Walker were on the same wavelength on multiple occasions. Photo by Javier Serna
Mackenzie owned the room’s heart as he delicately delivered the final lines to the song, while he and Walker strummed the song to its end.
The band moved into some bluesy playing before breaking into the soulful “Ambergris,” off Omnium Gatherum, Walker delivering those clever lyrics on this slow jam.
London-based Los Bitchos have lived up to the task of opening up for King Gizzard on this tour.
Photo by Javier Serna
Walker ended the song, noting opener Los Bitchos, a London-based all-female band that played a bitchin’ set to open things up, including covers of King Gizzard’s “Trap Door,” and the cannon’s “Tequila.”
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard kept the mood right where things had left off, with “Lava” off of IDPLML), the song emerging from some front-end noodling that featured Kenny-Smith on his sax throughout.
Though the song starts slow, the band used the song’s building composition to re-tap the energy that was laden in the room.
And the crowd responded well to Walker playing the bluesy lines to begin “The River,” off the 2015 LP Quarters. They took the song quite deeper than the 10-minute version on the studio album, this version going beyond 17 minutes as the band took it for a journey with peaks and valleys, turning the heat up repeatedly.
Mackenzie and Walker slowed the lyrics down near the end, only to crank up the song’s theme one more time that brought the entire floor to a rhythmic bounce (check out footage of that below) with the band jamming hard to the song’s theme with inspired guitar and harmonica play.
A metal-thirsty crowd was finally given its cookie when the band chose to play “Self Immolate” off the 2019 LP Infest the Rats’ Nest. It started with a drum solo from Michael Cavanagh that stirring up a churning, swirling sea of moshers before the band launched into the song’s thrashy chants and heavy riffs, Mackenzie now sporting his Reverse Flying V. That guitar points to Walker’s Flying V — the perfect combination for the next song, “Predator X,” the third and final selection from Omnium Gatherum, and one that got also got the entire floor bouncing in unison.
Walker then noted that the next song, which fit in quite well in tone with the two metal songs they had just played, was being debuted.
“First time ever,” he said.
“Gila Monster” is a thrash metal song, for sure, so the Netherlands crowd seemed to appreciate the song, and it’s “Gila, Gila, Gila!” chants. This version of the song was about 4:30 in length.
The band closed the show with a lengthy version of “Am I in Heaven,” from the 2014 LP I’m In Your Mind Fuzz. It started with a bluesy jam of about five minutes. It featured some harmonica playing by Kenny-Smith with Walker and Mackenzie still playing their flying Vs.
There was some banter in this part of the song, during which Walker told a raunchy story seemingly in jest about Kenny-Smith (it comes around the 1:46:10 mark, for the curious among you in the Youtube video posted below), just before Mackenzie began the composed part of the song.
It’s another song that builds from ballad beginnings but does get to a heavy blues, and harmonica-driven pitch that got the crowd bouncing hard one last time. The band took it bluesy and Kenny-Smith quoted “Stairway to Heaven,” briefly before the band took the song past the 17-minute mark (10 minutes longer than the studio version), with a “Rattlesnake” tease, and the crowd chanting “Cellophane” lyrics at the end.
The band has one night off before picking back up at Plan B in Malmo, Sweden on March 6. Jam in the Stream, however, will resume its coverage of six European King Gizzard shows on March 7 in Stockholm (with the band’s shows in Oslo, Norway and Prague remaining).