In a rush and can't read the recap? Make sure to check out: “Float Along - Fill Your Lungs”, “Mr. Beat” -> “Evil Death Roll”, “The Silver Cord”, “Motor Spirit”
At Stadtpark Open Air in Hamburg, Germany on 2024-05-22, King Gizzard played their first marathon show of 2024. For the uninitiated, marathon shows are three-hour-long Gizzard shows (opposed to the usual two hours) and are sometimes accompanied by the band’s record fairs which sell exclusive vinyl and other musical goodies. Hamburg got both. They kicked off the day with a record fair which saw the release of an exclusive 7” of “Swan Song” and “Extinction.” Later the band brought fans through a three-hour-long show featuring a number of heavy hitters from the their discography. The genres and time frames ranged wildly but the set itself was a crowd pleaser with a number of interesting choices sprinkled in for good measure. It’s a show that could certainly distract you from the rain.
The band started without a countdown clock similar to what was seen at the Hollywood Bowl on 2023-06-21. They also skipped an intermission, creating a solid three hour show. It’s funny to think that the band created two whole albums exactly for this purpose only to scrap the idea a year after their debuts.
The setlist starts with an unusual opener: “Float Along - Fill Your Lungs.” Based on our site statistics, the band has only opened a show with this 2013 tune one other time, that being on 2023-08-14 at the PALP Festival in Switzerland. The song goes proceeds as normal (even with some improvisational lyrical changes) and goes into heavier territory towards its end with a metal section that reprises the main melody of the song with some PetroDragonic Apocalypse stylings. In fact, the band tosses in a vamp on the slow, doom section of “Motor Spirit” in the jam. It’s a real gem of a performance that well passes the fifteen-minute mark.
Moving to Nonagon Infinity Gizzard introduces “People-Vultures.” The band loosely jams throughout this with a few noticeable mistakes. Perhaps the most interesting is a moment where Stu flubs the lyrics going into a chorus but follows it up with an impressively long scream. This is not the strongest performance of “People-Vultures” but it is a fun one. From here, Gizzard continues through the tracklisting with a performance of “Mr. Beat” that incorporates melodies from “Hot Water”, “Motor Spirit” and, interestingly, “Theia.” This is a strong performance that goes from an upbeat good time to a menacing and ominous crawl. Coming out of the depths of “Mr. Beat” is “Evil Death Roll”, which takes the slow tempo to a rager. We get a “Witchcraft” tease in here as well as another go at “Theia.” For those keeping track of this song’s evolution, you may have noticed that the “Invisible Face” tease from the original has disappeared in recent performances. However the band brought it back for this performance in Hamburg, making it an exception to the rule. Outside of teases, Lucas’ bass was prominent throughout this “Evil Death Roll” and the atmospheric break of previous versions is brushed to the side for a fast-tracked take on the idea. The song rounds out their exploration of their 2016 classic well with the energy you’d expect from a Nonagon song.
Going to something more contemporary, the band pulled off a good “Iron Lung” with highs during the solo and during Ambrose’s “frog breath, steam tent” section, which sees him walk out on a catwalk to sing with the audience. While the band sometimes heads into “Hypertension” after “Iron Lung,” they hold off and end the song as a standalone performance before pivoting to an action-packed “Hot Water” with teases of Jimi Hendrix’s “Third Stone From The Sun” as well as “Gondii” and “Flamethrower”. The band starts light but goes into darker territory with the incorporation of “Flamethrower” before speeding up and heading into the first appearance of “Trapdoor” on this tour. Gizzard blasts through this and creates a great end to the jam.
“Hypertension” appears next. As mentioned, it isn’t coming out of “Iron Lung” which is already somewhat unusual. What’s even more unusual is that this is a standalone performance of the song, something that is often not seen. The performance isn’t as crazy or expansive as others but does set up the next song of the set, “Work This Time.” Preceded by a funky jam with more prominent bass work from Lucas, Joey gives the audience a soft, emotional slow jam before heading into a fast shredfest. The second performance of “Le Risqué” came afterwards and went similar to the debut, though it had Ambrose heading into the audience before Stu’s verse.
As you may expect at this point if you’ve been following this tour, the band debuted yet another song at this show. They continued the trend set up with 2024-05-20 by bringing out the table of synthesizers and playing a track from The Silver Cord, this time the album’s title track. This was long even by Gizzard standards, a bit over twenty-six minutes in total with a number of distinct sections and feels. It may be the highlight of the night. They start with a vibe similar to the studio version with notable live sampling, something which recurs throughout this performance. Joey comes in with his vocals modulated as they are on The Silver Cord with accompaniment from Stu (who had no vocal effects). Moving into the chorus, the band gets quiet and atmospheric, made all the more intimate by Joey removing his synth modulation and singing directly alongside Stu as Cavs moves to his real kit rather than the Simmons. While groups like Kraftwerk may come to mind with the album, parts of this live section could almost be Boards of Canada instead. The band moves on, however, into a darker rave section like the extended version of the song, even using a synth pattern found early on in the jam. This jam goes on for a while with Galea’s visuals emphasizing the synths on stage. The band experiments a lot here, especially with sampling and modulators. While it may sound like noodling, there’s a lot going on here and by the end, it felt like a journey. The length paired with the different atmospheres and sections creates an easy highlight of the show. From here on out, the band gets less experimental.
The crew takes the table away and Gizzard moves to the metal guitars. After a brief retuning of Stu’s Gibson, we get a good “Mars For the Rich” and a hectic rendition of “Organ Farmer” that doesn’t let up. The band follows it up with a strong “Supercell” and a glorious “Converge” > “Witchcraft.” After what seems to be a set up for “The Great Chain of Being”, they rip through “Gaia” before a final surprise. The song features a long jam during the break which ends up going into the second full performance of “Motor Spirit.” There’s a bit of history here as the song initially debuted during “Gaia” sandwiches in the summer of 2023. Here, however, the song has returned to the sandwich in its full form, marking the first pairing of these two since 2023-06-11, the last incomplete performance of “Motor Spirit.” The ending of “Gaia” comes through and ends the show on a high note.
King Gizzard currently has five other marathon shows planned, all of which will be in the United States. If they’re anything like this massive collection of hits, we’ll have a great lineup on our hands. While less adventurous as other 2024 EU shows, this one provides a pretty consistent run and some notable jams that are worth a listen (even if you don’t hear the full show).