King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
Bristol Beacon, Bristol
30th May 2024
King Gizzard & The Lizard stop by Bristol Beacon for an eclectic performance, full of synthy wanderings, jazz-funk, and thrashing distortion. Elliott Simpson reviews, with photography by Michael Brumby.
It’s been eight years since King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard last graced a Bristol stage, and it’s remarkable to think how much has changed since then. Not only has the band’s discography ballooned significantly (they’ve released seventeen albums in the intervening years) but also their popularity. They’re now the sort of act that can sell out three nights at Red Rocks, outpacing their former fuzz-rock contemporaries – Osees, and Ty Segall – by miles.
Given their roots, it feels a little odd at first when their Bristol Beacon show opens with the band crowding around a synth-laden table. Tapping at keyboards and twisting dials, the first song of their set slowly comes to life, the title track from their latest album, The Silver Cord. A Kraftwerk-like, electronic spaciness fills out the first stretch of the show, building to a clattering climax when the drums eventually come in. King Gizzard aren’t strangers when it comes to left-field genre pivots – having explored everything from folk to jazz-funk in the past – but they still seem slightly unsure in this guitarless, electronic mood. When the synth table is finally wheeled off stage, Stu Mackenzie jokingly thanks the audience for bearing with them while they played their ‘elevator music’.
As if to counterbalance this patient opening, the band immediately shift into thrash mode next, tearing into Supercell from their other album of 2023, PetroDragonic Apocalypse. It immediately lights the mosh pit’s fuse. Compared to the complex webbing that made up The Silver Chord, there’s some primal and instantly gratifying about Supercell and the songs that follow it. Dragon similarly rocks along with a distortion-laden sense of ease, building towards a chorus where the band members – and the crowd – simply chant the titular monster’s name over and over again.
Then, another gear shift: jam-band mode. Ice V, one of the best King Gizzard songs in recent years, has an effortless groove to it; the band stretch it out for a good fifteen minutes on stage – indulging in multiple guitar-noodling interludes – and it could’ve easily gone for another fifteen without any complaints from the audience. As a result, it feels a little premature when the band abruptly transition things back into a heavier place, blowing through Hypertension and an older favourite, Evil Death Roll.
The last stretch of the performance feels dedicated to the long-time fans. Back at their last Bristol show in 2016, Evil Death Roll was a new song; now, in the context of their many newer releases, it almost feels like a relic. That doesn’t detract from the fact that it still shreds hard. Given all the band’s recent genre deviations, there’s something delightfully pure about the song’s straightforward fuzzy psych-rock. King Gizzard also break out Work This Time, an even older cut. This one is less successful. Given how proficient the band are at their instruments now, there’s something almost childlike about the song’s lethargic plod. It mainly serves as a signpost for how far the group has come.
It’s not hard to understand why King Gizzard are so beloved. Their freewheeling, exploratory nature, both in the studio and on stage, remains something utterly unique in the music world. No one else is doing what they’re doing. And while their sprawling discography can seem like a double-edged sword at live shows – if only because you’re very unlikely to hear your favourite song – it would be impossible to describe a King Gizzard performance as boring.
You can find King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard online here.
~
All words by Elliott Simpson. More writing by him can be found on his website and you can also follow him on Twitter.
Photos by Michael Brumby. More work by Michael can be found on his website.
We have a small favour to ask. Subscribe to Louder Than War and help keep the flame of independent music burning. Click the button below to see the extras you get!
