Writing this review over a year later so my memory might be fuzzy at times. Drove from Pittsburgh to see the show as Mr. Smalls was sold out. Big shout out to Katalina's pancake balls which we ate the morning after, one of the best breakfasts of my life. Thunderstorms had been threatening all day and the lawn was a mudpit by the time we got there, but the rain and storms miraculously stopped as the band took the stage. On to the set...Hell and superbug were powerful and awesome (lyric change to "coronavirus was a flop" in superbug). My first time seeing ITRN material live and it was fantastic and the perfect opener to make the crowd go crazy. Ending section of Hell went extra hard. Guitar tone is all so good.
Inner Cell > Loyalty > Horolgy was something I was hoping to see and never expected them to play. The live version makes you appreciate how complicated and intricate these songs are, the guitar parts are interweaving with different rhythms and it sounds like it took a lot of rehearsal to nail, and they NAIL the whole thing without missing a note, and it still had feel and groove and power.
On magenta mountain the band extends the ending into a momentum-fueled jam that borders on unhinged while coming to a peak. I keep using the word powerful because so far the band has been playing loud, heavy, and super rhythmically locked in, and it's perfect for the big outdoor venue, they're definitely playing to the room. I've relistened to this MM and it holds up for sure.
Cut throat boogie sees the band stretch out with a different type of jam, a harmonica choogle, loosey-goosey jam with a lot of teases of other songs and Ambrose impassionately wailing improvised lyrics about being horny. Lots of fun banter overall from this night, they seemed to be playing around and having fun, taking a little break between each song to hydrate and say something to the crowd. The jam peters out a bit and it seems like some members of the band pause to tune up while others keep grooving.
Persistence bubbles up out of the noodling, a riff suggested by one guitarist and eagerly picked up by the rest of the band. I knew from following the tour so far that this song was becoming a bit of a jam vehicle, so I was excited to hear where it went. I need to relisten but I was a bit underwhelmed in that aspect, great performance of the song but the jam never coalesced into anything and they kind of let it end instead of trying to get somewhere.
The microtonal section might have been my favorite part of the show, despite having thoroughly loved every moment thus far. Billabong valley was thick and slow, and Ambrose earned his spotlight on vocals. I seem to remember a long pause or some other antics in the middle of this one??? Then ALL IS KNOWN felt like it took the whole audience by surprise. I myself had forgotten about this microtonal cut from gumboot soup, and this version had myself and everyone in attendance headbanging visciously. It was like a dump truck full of sludge driving over the crowd. Fuzzed-out microtonal guitars through super loud speakers sound so dirty and massive and the sound on the lawn was excellent. Of course they follow this up with KGLW part II, one of the songs I was most hoping to see live, and it did not dissapoint AT ALL. I loved being taken on the journey of all the different sections of this song, and in a live setting it felt like the riches just kept coming with new and heavier segments. My cup runneth over with heavy riffs.
By this point I really didn't need anything else, this show had been fantastic and I was satisfied, so when they fired up Am I In Heaven it just felt like a bonus - they were playing with house money. And I have to say... it wasn't my favorite jam. Maybe it was my emotional state of feeling fully satisfied and like KGLW II was a great conclusion, or maybe the band was a little spent, but it felt like the jam went on for about 10 minutes after it had lost momentum and they never regained the momentum/found a groove to latch onto. I do remember a cool moment where the band brought everything down really quiet and everyone in the pit/crowd sat down in response, that was really fun. I definitely need to relisten because I've heard there was an Ice V tease and I'd like to re-evaluate the jams, but at that point I was so happy with the show that I didn't need this to be a great jam for it to be the icing on the cake of my thoroughly melted face.
Their jamming does seem to be in a transition right now, and I saw that with the other jams of this show as well (magenta, cut throat, persistence). KG's context is crazy, energetic krautrock jamming where they slam back and forth between teases and snippets of different songs without ever letting up the gas pedal, like a sinister locomotive powered by a double-drummer engine. Single-drummer jamming is something they are still getting used to, jamming on the ideas of one song instead of "jamming" through performances of 4-8 songs in one connected segment. They are still getting used to trying to find creative fusion in a groove or melody versus just finding the next song to tease or following the lead of whatever Stu calls out. You can tell that they want to make this kind of transition though by the structure of the show. Those three jam songs earlier in the show did each set aside ~10 minutes and really attempt to jam based on that song. I'm excited to see the band moving in this direction and I'm eager to see how their on-stage musical communication and collective improv develops.
Overall this show demonstrated the raw power of KG's rock n roll at a great-sounding outdoor venue. It felt like a dream setlist, showing off the best material from multiple eras. This feels like a blueprint for a great king gizz set that doesn't include any nonagon, MOTU, or mind fuzz suite material (i.e. the krautrock that used to make up maybe 75% of their set pre-2019). They have new tricks up their sleeve and an enournous repertoire so you never know what songs you might get. The new trick I was most impressed with is their ability to learn complex songs and execute them PERFECTLY, as on the inner cell suite and KGLW II, the latter of which was probably my favorite moment of the show. It was a delight to see this band at the height of its powers and I can't wait until I can see them again.