My first King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard show and on my 18th birthday! This set was full of energy and passion, from the moment they were on stage, to the moment they were saying goodnight. I listen to the MysteryJack Recording of this show A LOT. Probably way more than any other Live Set they have. This being my first Gizz show I had no clue what to expect but I went in hoping for a good time and I left with the biggest smile in my heart. The crowd was engaged for all of Gizz, but also for the incredible opener, Amyl and the Sniffers. I received many birthday wishes and as it turns out I wasn't alone in it being a birthday show! As Joey points out during the recording "This Dude turns 21, TODAY!" I couldn't help but feel so excited knowing I shared the experience of seeing a dope ass concert on my our birthday(s)! But that's enough of the fluff, now it's time to talk about the setlist itself. 


Opening strong with Digital Wax and a very fun twist into Hot Wax, back into Vomit Coffin! “Woah, did they really just link a song from Oddments into the MOTU suite?” This blew my mind all the way back in 2018. Back then I only really listened to the studio albums, so blending from album to album really was a treat. The Lord of Lightning was one of my friends favorite moments from the shows, and I knew it would be because they requested that I play that segment off of MOTU at least 3 times on the drive up to ATL. 

Cellophane/IIYM/Alter Me I/Alter Beast I is another one of those album to album blending moments. These 4 songs smashed next to each other really creates an interesting juxtaposition of mind control and becoming something that you aren't. I wouldn't have thought these songs flow into each other very well, but the band is full of surprises and this was the moment in the show where I really knew I could jam out and trust that Gizz does what Gizz does best: Play Music. (Fun Fact: I did bring a pair of 3D glasses in case they did play Cellophane, and I tried to wear them for the entire song but it was very difficult because of how much I was jumping and moving with the crowd. Still worth it, I got to hear the song about 3D glasses while wearing my 3D glasses for a good 30 seconds before I had to take them off.)

After Altered Beast I they took a brief break to grab THE MICROTONAL INSTRUMENTS!! As a huge fan of FMB and the other microtonal moments throughout their discography at this point, I was so happy to see the titular guitar itself. Rattlesnake shook me to my very core, fast and frenetic, the song really does sound like a snake about to murder you out in the wastelands. Then Billabong Valley... oh sweet lord. Ambrose really gave it his all for this performance, I managed to grab a few seconds of (very shaky) footage on my phone of this one. Sleep Drifter was a nice slow moment for the crowd to breathe a little bit, and looking at it from a modern perspective, it is such a treat hearing that Honey tease two years before the song was officially released. All Is Known, one of my all time personal favorites, comes in after Sleep Drifter to close out the microtonal section. I thought that this had to be the crowning moment of the show but I couldn't have been more wrong.

Because next was a suite of songs so great, so amazing, that it completely blew me out of the water. Crumbling Castle/The Fourth Colour/Deserted Dunes Welcome Weary Feet/The Castle in the Air/Muddy Water. This section made me ascend. I really don't know what to say here other than go back in time and get a ticket. While they have done this set of songs on one of the 2019 Bootlegs (Paris), I personally feel like this performance was fresher and had more energy. This version of Muddy Water made me realize how much I love that song. I always enjoyed it, but this and the KEXP version may have helped push the song into my top 10. So maybe this is the crowning moment of the show?

For the last section of the concert I was hit with so much anticipation. As soon as they started to play The River I had one thought and one thought only. "Holy Shit! What if they play Wah Wah next....." Wah Wah is easily my favorite song off of Nonagon Infinity. Something about the simple chorus while the verses are full of arcane and sinister lyrics really gets me going! This was the actual crowning moment of the show for me. Honestly, they could've ended the show at Wah Wah and I would've been so happy, but instead the show kept going! Right into a fantastic rendition of Robot Stop. Even towards the end of the show the band is putting each and every ounce of their energy into their craft. Relentless and heady, they seemed to never stop for more than a moment before jumping right back into the groove of things. Finally, the last proper song (not counting the People Vultures/Some Context tease at the very end) was Gamma Knife! A real crowd favorite to end the show on. The setlist was non-stop, balls to the wall BANGERS.

This show changed my fucking life. Not only did it cement KGLW as my favorite band, but it really cemented that I wasn't alone in that feeling. Four days after this show I got the Nonagon Infinity symbol tattooed onto my left arm. I had wanted a tattoo for years before this, but something about seeing my favorite song off of Nonagon helped me realize what my first tattoo should be. I love this band, and this concert will forever be one of the most formative experiences I’ve ever had.

I’m fairly certain that this review isn’t very coherent, but I had to ramble about one of the best experiences in my life.