By Jase Walker
It’s been a hot minute since King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard popped up on my radar with their insanely productive approach to music amongst other things constantly peppering my new releases list. Somehow I’ve managed missing them every time they’ve been near – but not this time and, in contrast to their sometimes creative gig times (midnight in Manchester for example), they’re playing a somewhat normal time in one of Amsterdam’s largest venues, AFAS Live.
With literally hundreds of songs under their belt by this point covering a pretty massive variety of musical styles, I imagine this set list is going to be a pretty interesting pot luck of songs. For this particular date, the support act is a similarly oddball named band, Dr. Sure’s Unusual Practice so this is probably going to be one of the more unusual shows I’ve been to but quite excited given all the hype I’ve heard about their live shows.
First impressions of the stage as I get in and find myself a decent seat is that the stage looks busy. There’s a pretty solid amount of equipment on stage and I can see a few rows of pretty damn big looking lights, so I hope I’m not directly in the firing line for a beam straight to the eyes! A quiet walk into these tags followed by a booming Aussie voice coming out the PA, Dr Sure are kicking off the show tonight – and I actually forgot how obscenely loud AFAS Live can be as the bass guitar smacks me in the chest. Initially this sounds pretty punky but there’s quite a bit more wacky stuff going on as the guitar and keys go on some wild bleepy bloopy escapade. It’s pretty interesting how incredibly layered this music is, the five members on stage all adding in their elements with various levels of unusual synth additions yet very much through a punk lens.
It’s almost as if Kraftwerk decided to fob off Berlin and spent several years in the Aussie outback smoking an entire backyard of weed every week. As I said I knew I was in for a bit of an odd ride tonight but Dr Sure is definitely getting this kicked off right. I adore left field approaches to songwriting because at its core, Dr Sure is definitely a bit weird but it’s really damn catchy too, it’s the sort of energy you get off those types that wade into the middle of a mosh pit wearing a Hawaiian shirt and glasses but fully appreciates the vibe. We’ve even got bits of saxophone in this show as well, this is bloody great, what a totally oddball band but I’m totally sold already. In fact I’ve just thought who these really remind me of, it’s The Stranglers! From the chunky bass tone, the synths, the slightly offkey guitars to the punky vocals, it’s so strongly along the same lines! Great opener!
Prior to King Gizzard taking the stage, the smell of weed from the audience is getting pretty overpowering but I shouldn’t really be too surprised! The six piece lights up the room to an absolutely rammed audience, front to back the crowd is stood shoulder to shoulder. Opening with ‘Crumbling Castle’, the crowd is already a sea of movement and the lads sitting next to me are clearly overjoyed they’ve picked this as an opener. We’re already off to an extended psychedelic exploration, I knew these guys were proggy but damn, I could listen to this musical story for hours. An extended harmonica solo too? Check. I’m already getting a bit of a feel for this being the sort of live show where people just say “you had to be there, dude”.
This is already a master class in how to use and abuse proggy elements in your music while still being as rock ‘n’ fuckin’ roll in the only way a bunch of Aussies can be. There’s even a bloody circle pit going down the front, a massive one at that, to a dreamy passage filled with mad harmonica playing?! What the fuck is going on?! The camera focuses on the drummer doing a drum solo just in time for one of his smaller cymbals to fly off between his legs, whoops! Do these guys even run with a setlist? I’m genuinely not sure because it seems they’ve basically decided on fucking about and somehow a setlist just happens at the same time, I kinda love it?! Also, we’ve gone from psychedelic stuff to.. thrash metal (‘Self-Immolate’) with throat singing now? I’m so confused but totally enthralled equally!
I’m actually astonished by how many people are moving down the front, it’s a sea of bobbing heads and waving arms moving erratically and it’s spread incredibly wide. And now it’s opened up and people have started a gigantic rowing pit?! I’m really not trying to sound hyperbolic here but this is probably one of the maddest shows I’ve ever seen; nevermind what the band themselves are doing, the central crowd down the front is absolutely mental! The stage performance that King Gizzard are putting out is nothing short of absolutely incredible, there’s seldom a moment where something interesting isn’t happening. The screen behind them plays a variety of videos that remind me heavily of the battered old VHS tapes of my childhood where the tape was completely shagged with neon flashing colours. I just can’t take my eyes off the literal two thousand people down the front going apeshit in full unison: they’re absolutely mental.
‘Rattlesnake’ sets everyone off again with smaller pits popping up dotted around the crowd further back. I really can’t get my head around the sheer level of movement in the crowd and the constant stream of crowd surfers, I don’t even see this level of movement at some of the larger extreme metal shows I’ve been to. Doing shots on stage too, that’s rock and fucking roll, well, except with following it up with some chilled jazz, that works too. It’s pretty clear to myself that I’m totally captivated by this show, I had little idea of what to expect short of people telling me that their live shows were pretty crazy but to witness this for myself is a real privilege in its own right. King Gizzard puts on a live show that is truly a unique beast, the spread of musical genres and influences is staggering and being able to put that into one cohesive show that still feels like they were making it up as they go is baffling.
This has gone on for a solid two hours, and neither the band nor the crowd has let up even for a moment. The show I have witnessed tonight has been nothing short of extraordinary, I’m genuinely gobsmacked by this performance, fully astonished. This is legitimately one of the best shows this year already and it’ll take something real special to beat this.
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard are truly bonkers, and their hardcore fans are pretty nuts too.
- The tour continues and hits the ÜK tonight (Saturday 25 May)
