Recommending the very best live King Gizzard audience recordings.
Thank You, Tapers!
As creator of the King Gizzard Live Spreadsheet and KGLW.net collaborator, Brent (@Gizzhenge here, /u/(yebrent) on Reddit) has a valid claim to having listened to the most live King Gizzard of anyone (outside of the band themselves and their touring crew). These recommendations are the best combination of complete recordings, in high quality, of the band in their top form.
December 1, 2018 @ Royal Melbourne Showgrounds, Naarm, VIC, AUS - Gizzfest
This is an outstanding recording from Dross_857. It is also at YouTube. This is the most recent Gizzfest. There is some crowd noise to overcome during the quieter moments, but the louder parts along with all the rarities make this a must listen. Dead-Beat and back to back Amby tunes (Cut Throat Boogie and Let Me Mend The Past) are first half highlights. If there weren’t enough rarities, Broderick Smith joins the band for a trio of Eyes Like The Sky songs, including the likely live debut of Year Of Our Lord. The set ends strong with a batch of Nonagon songs and a 20+ minute Head On/Pill tease-fest.
May 22, 2022 @ Pittsburgh, PA, USA - Mr. Smalls
This is a high-quality recording from Mystery Jack. The opening Self-Immolate seems to be exactly what the crowd wants and energy is palpable. Blame It on the Weather sounds fantastic here along with the always welcome Work This Time. Another highlight is the extended and creative microtonal section with the rare D-Day, The Book, and Open Water. The Open Water and Float Along - Fill Your Lung dual finale is a contender for best of tour.
October 28, 2022 @ Austin, TX, USA - Levitation at Stubb’s BBQ
This is a high-quality recording from Brian Cox. For this tour, it's a rare no microtonal show. That sometimes means more jamming, and here we have Hypertension, Iron Lung and Magma all thoroughly explored. There is also a bunch of filthy garage rock with Hot Wax and Mind Fuzz suite early in the set, and towards the end a gnarly bit of the Altered Beast suite with Leah Senior narrating.
October 29, 2022 @ Austin, TX, USA - Levitation at Stubb’s BBQ
This is a high-quality recording from Brian Cox. After no microtonal the previous show, night 2 kicks off with an almost 30-minute microtonal Rattlesnake segue-fest. Cavs’ Gaia drum solo morphs into a metal jam, the kind that birthed PetroDragonic. Crumbling Castle > Fourth Colour is super tight with lots of energy. The final stretch of the show is heavy on jams with Magenta Mountain, Ice V, Lava and The Dripping Tap.
February 25, 2023 @ Northcote Theater, Naarm, VIC, AUS
This is an outstanding audience shot video from Larrikin_Grimm YouTube channel. The complete show (other than a few seconds of the Gaia jam) is over 2 videos. Most sounds outstanding, particularly the second video with most of the juicy bits. There is also a very good audio from Progdog1 at archive.org and an audio matrix by Samm O’s YouTube channel that some might prefer - This show is 5-days after Gizz pulled out of Bluesfest. Opening with their unofficial theme song (K.G.L.W. Outro) feels unapologetic and appropriate, and each song early in the set seems to take on a little extra weight. Tensions lighten midway through for Slow Jam 1 which transitions masterfully into a synth heavy Sense followed by Shanghai and The Dripping Tap. Sense is one of the best ever versions, and per Joey’s banter, the multi-synth Shanghai jam “happened out of the absolute blue…” Subsequent Shanghai synth jams would highlight some of 2023’s best shows.
Links to these and future Brent's Recs, highlighting the very best King Gizz audience recordings will be at King Gizz Live Spreadsheet. Make a recommendation for the next edition in the comments.