PRAGUE — There was a reason I circled King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s March 12 show at the Lucerna Velky Sal as the last of six shows I’d attend on the band’s March tour through Europe and the U.K.
A legendary Phish show went down there nearly 25 years ago, and I figured the room had to have some energy (July 6, 1998).
Did it ever.
The room itself builds, stores and screeches energy and heat like a teapot, and the band was more than willing to set the stovetop on high, which is exactly what the roughly 2,500 attendees wanted.
The band cranked the metal early and often, taking only a few bluesy, soulful detours late in the set.
Opening with “Doom City” hinted at the onslaught that was about to occur, and even before the opening, foreboding notes were played, guitarist Joey Walker urged the sound man to turn up the volume.
It was the only song played off of 2017’s Flying Microtonal Banana for the night, and the song was played pretty straightforward.
The stage was splashed in blue and magenta as the band moved on to “Minimum Brain Size,” off the 2020 LP K.G., frontman Stu Mackenzie still rocking with his flying banana guitar he started off with, and he chimed in as Walker led off vocals as smoke and splintered blue light filtered the stage in another fairly straightforward version.
Prague’s storied Lucerna Velky Sal provided a nice backdrop for King Gizz’s visual team, led by none other than Jason Galea. Photo by Sue Serna
“You don’t have a say,” Walker sings with soul, trailing off those lyrics.
Next up, it was “K.G.L.W.,” showing up on the band’s setlist as “K.G.L.W. (outro). The song bookends the K.G. (2020) and L.W. (2021) LPs. It’s a favorite of many Gizz fans and the Prague crowd, hungry for metal, was pleased with the choice.
Mackenzie bowed forward and swung back before singing the opening line, Ambrose Kenny-Smith and Walker joining in (Walker using his low-end fuzz vocal effect).
When the band dropped into its heavy, bouncy riffs, the Prague crowd fed off that energy, starting up concise choppy clap-chants and moshing with abandon.
The Prague crowed clearly wanted the metal. King Gizz would not deny them. Photo by Javier Serna
The song was played almost exactly as long as it appears on the album, north of 8 minutes, but the heavy head-banging riffs are baked into it, and the energy level was cranked up by a notch or three by song’s end, the trio of guitarists ripping, Kenny-Smith providing hand percussion, bassist Lucas Harwood and drummer Cavanagh delivering the rhythm.
Kenny-Smith seemed to respond to that, in the pause before the next song was played.
“This city’s (freaking) sick,” he told the crowd, and both Mackenzie and Walker also chimed in, clearly aware of the energy they were curating.
One fellow Prague local I met in line was particularly happy after the show with the band’s next choice, Crumbling Castle, which brought upon equipment changes for Mackenzie and Walker, shifting over to their Flying A and V guitars.
It was the first of two consecutive picks off 2017’s Polygondwanaland.
This song saw more involvement from Kenny-Smith on the boards, and he pulled out his harmonica for the first time in the show, as well.
Next was “The Fourth Colour,” giving the band’s visual team, led by Jason Galea, even more incentive to barrage the band’s backdrop with his projector.
The band’s powerful projector is just one element in their incredible light show. Photo by Sue Serna
A trio of songs from 2019’s Infest the Rats’ Nest ensued with “Venusian 2, Self-Immolate, and Planet B,” three more heavy hitters that kept the room amped up.
“Venusian 2” went about as twice as long as it was recorded, and drummer Michael Cavanagh, who kicks off that song with a lot of low drums, was encouraged once again by the Prague crowd and their rhythmic clap-chants. This version went a little deeper, and the temperature in the room had the building’s marble covered in condensation and/or sweat.
Self Immolate started with Cavs again beating on the low drums. That was interrupted by Walker asking for the lights to be turned up.
“I want to see these beautiful faces,” he said.
The band then played the song’s heavy opening riff before Cavs launched somewhat of a brief drum solo, the crowd adding some fast-tempoed clapping.
The two main front men turned to face Cavs before returning to the song, and riling up the moshing crowd.
“I have gone insane-o,” Stu sang, and many chanted along with him.
Walker, as well as Mackenzie, both thanked opening band Los Bitchos, which has wowed the crowds regardless of city. Walker has made a point of it pretty much without fail every night on the tour.
The band kept up the metal with that “Planet B,” the opening track on ITRN.
The Prague crowd clearly wanted the metal onslaught, and King Gizz kept it up, Stu’s vocals, with a thousand or so backup singers, echoed through the large hall.
“There is no Planet B!”
The band paused before playing their new heavy rocker, “Gila Monster.”
Kenny-Smith noted that the band is working on a new album.
It was the fourth time the band played it since debuting the song in Tilburg, Netherlands March 4.
While Mackenzie does have the opening lines, Kenny-Smith does share leading some of the songs vocals, his devilish vocals answered by a pair of “Gilas!"
Now at about the mid-way point in the show, the band opted to shift away from the metal for a minute.
“OK, let’s go techno,” Walker said, before starting up a synth-heavy “Magenta Mountain,” off 2022’s Omnium Gatherum.
The four front men all worked their keyboards and synthesizers, while Walker delivered the soulful vocals, Kenny-Smith chipping in on the high notes.
“We fell through a dream, across clouds of glue, Anamnesis crashing through,” Walker sang.
Stu grabbed his Flying A guitar as the song headed into a deep techno funk section, everyone contributing in their own way, as they jammed and extended this to nearly 10 minutes (the studio cut is just over 6 minutes).
Kenny-Smith was excited for the next song, “Let Me Mend the Past,” off 2013’s classic Float Along - Fill Your Lungs.
“My time to shine,” he told the crowd, before stalking all corners of the stage and hitting his highs on this second soulful song in a row, which included a nice solo from Walker on guitar.
Ambrose Kenny-Smith had lots of moments with the mic, showcasing his pipes. Photo by Javier Serna
The band played a very bluesy “Ice V,” a funky song (from 2022’s Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava) that still picked the pace up a bit, with Kenny-Smith using his sax, also contributing vocals and tambourines, helping generate the sound of ice, as hazy blue light covered the stage.
The band returned to its metal roots one more time, with a trio of songs off of 2016’s Nonagon Infinity, “Gamma Knife,” “People-Vultures” and “Mr. Beat,” which all appear in that order on the album, and the band does play them in order in live shows at times.
The crowd appreciated the return to the heavy, and these songs were designed to flow into each other, eventually getting to the catchy “Mr. Beat,” the proggy and more organ-driven song led by Mackenzie-delivered lines.
“Once I’m Mr. Beat, I only miss a beat,” he sang, before the band took things real bluesy, funky and waltzy, Kenny-Smith making some major contributions with his harmonica as the two lead guitarists went along for the jammy ride and the tempo increased.
The song flowed into the show’s end, another soulful “Iron Lung,” off IDPLML.
It’s been a go-to for the band on this tour, and I couldn’t have been happier to have it cap my own incredible journey following this band through six European cities, yearning for more.
It’s such a funky, jammy song, with so much going on, Kenny-Smith back on sax, and Mackenzie, Walker and Cook Craig all going hard on their guitars.
Kenny-Smith hits his highs with “Frog breath, steam tent, neck paralysis.”
Mackenzie comes back with “Pins and needles, like a voodoo evil.”
They end this beautiful song so bluesy, so gracefully.
“Hey oh
The ship sailed
Train derailed
Now it’s me and my iron lung ”
The room was thankful; This writer shed a joyful tear.
And the built-up heat and humidity billowed out of the front door of the Lucerna for at least 45 minutes after the show ended.