AMSTERDAM — King Gizzard played a banger, only two shows into their 17-date March tour of Europe.
The second of three consecutive shows, this time the scene was Amsterdam’s Gashouder Westergasfabriek, a historic and circular gas storage facility that holds about 3,500 people.
The restored building’s ceiling is reminiscent of Madison Square Garden, but this room is much smaller and was entirely general admission. It was similarly lit all night (ala Phish’s Chris Kuroda), as much a part of the art on display as the music and King Gizz’s incredibly psychedelic stage rig.
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard ripped a pretty standard length “Dripping Tap,” to start things off. The song, clocking in at more than 18 minutes in the studio for the 2022 LP Omnium Gatherum just lends itself to some improvisation and this version was pretty close in lenth to the studio cut.
The band took it there to start things off. And then they came back.
That was after a spirited version of “Ice V,” bringing out Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s alto saxophone early in the show.
The song was but two that would come out from 2022’s Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava but we’ll hold off on mentioning the other song for now.
Then it was two that appear back-to-back on the 2016 album Nonagon Infinity, “People-Vultures” and “Mr. Beat.” These choices pleased the Dutch crowd, which broke into wild yet safe moshing.
The band returned to the “Dripping Tap,” and that led to hundreds of the attendees sitting down, locked in nut to butt as if they were rowing mates, making the row the boat motion. The room temperature heated up for that, all that drip, dripping “on the floor.”
So the band turned to “Hot Water,” from their classic 2014 album, I’m in Your Mind Fuzz. Stu’s flute play was piping hot on this one.
Then the band played “Magenta Mountain” for the second night in a row, something my show partner predicted out of a desire to see the Gashouder painted in Magenta light. The Paris Magenta, off Omnium Gatherum, may have been darker (and a preferred version to many), but this one was lit better, even with some dual synth play from Kenny-Smith and Stu Mackenzie, with Joey Walker singing the insane lyrics to this newer fan favorite.
The European crowds have moshed and body surfed, two shows into the tour, but it’s been a less aggressive contact sport than what’s becoming normal at American Gizz shows. Photo by Javier Serna
Walker then warned the crowd, after Magenta had ended, “Now it’s time to get serious!”
As if they hadn’t been already.
King Gizz then went a trilogy off their 2017 album Polygondwanaland with “Inner Cell,” “Loyalty,” and “Horology.”
Then it was “Mars For The Rich,” off 2019’s Infest the Rats’ Nest, and Mackenzie brought out his reverse V guitar, which he put to good use during the song. He sprayed the crowd with liquid before riling them up to a bouncing rhythm with the rolling riff of Mars.
Photo by Javier Serna
The band then wrote a K.G.>L.W. sandwich into the back end of the set list, that ended with perhaps this writer’s favorite extended passage of the evening.
First came “Automation,” off the 2020 LP K.W.
Then “Static Electricity,” from 2021’s L.W.
Ambrose Kenny-Smith kept things animated.
Photo by Sue Serna
They went right back to K.G. with “Straws in the Wind,” highlighting Kenny-Smith’s devilish use of vocal effects and his animated stagemanship.
Then the band closed the show on Ice, Death‘s “Magma.” The band, led by Mackenzie, took it heavy, loud and dark. Mackenzie growled his voice, late into the song as he screamed, “Immortal!” and the band broke back into the song’s funkiness, the entire band and crowd building to a crescendo.
London-based Los Bitchos, an all-woman instrumental band, opened the festivities, and they are scheduled to do so for the entire tour. Walker played them up to the crowd during King Gizzard’s set and the audience, much of which had arrived early enough to see them, agreed.
King Gizzard takes the tour to Tilburg, Netherlands tonight for a show at 013 Poppodium. JaminthStream.com will be there! Stay tuned for a writeup of that show.