For most any non-legacy band, filling a non-stop three-hour marathon concert would be an almost unthinkable task. Then for a band only 14 years into existence to market these marathon shows with the promise of unique performances each time would be nearly impossible. Impossible that is for any band that isn’t King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, who completed another of the band’s fabled “marathon shows” last night in Chicago.
Sunday’s Labor Day Weekend performance at Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island marked Gizz’s third marathon show of this North American tour following back-to-back three-hour concerts at Forest Hills Stadium in New York two weeks prior. Though the elongated performance model seems a preposterous concept to any band that hasn’t been around for several decades, it is completely in step with the ethos of the Australian psych rockers with 26 full-length studio albums to their name. Sunday’s show spread the love throughout the band’s discography, touching on 14 of the band’s albums. One release though in particular, 2017’s Murder of the Universe, was a focal point of the show as King Gizz busted out “Welcomed to the Altered Future” for the first time since March 16th, 2018 (304 shows ago) and played the entire suite for the first time.
For those not fully committed to the painstaking and never-ending task of keeping up with the puzzlingly prolific King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Murder of the Universe was one of five albums the band released in 2017. This collaboration with Australian singer-songwriter Leah Senior was a concept album separated into three distinct suite storylines, with Han-Tyumi & The Murder Of The Universe closing out the album. With a character borrowed from J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Middle Earth and reflections on the temptations of power, Murder of the Universe is one of Gizzard’s most adventurous works—which is saying something—but hold your applause to the end.
Beginning in the spoken-word track “Welcome to an Altered Future”, a confused cyborg named Han-Tyumi (who appears throughout the King Gizzard cinematic universe, a.k.a. the Gizzverse) gains consciousness. Rather than trying to understand the complex nature of conscious emotions, Han-Tyumi is fixated on the two things a cyborg cannot do: vomit and die. Han-Tyumi resolves to create a creature whose only purpose is to vomit—dubbed the “Soy-Protein Munt Machine”—but when it rejects his love, Han attempts to merge with it in an experiment that goes wrong and ultimately results in the murder of the universe. That entire story across six tracks took only 12 minutes of the concert and was immediately followed by an almost 15-minute version of the electronic composition “Swang Song” which the band debuted two nights prior in Asheville.
As multi-instrumentalist Ambrose Kenny-Smith remarked between “Murder of the Universe” and “Swang Song”, “We go from metal to blues, now we’re going to take you to a deep house dungeon rave.” If that wild fluctuation between opposing genres in the midst of an absurd self-imposed artistic challenge doesn’t sell you on King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, then nothing else will.
Check out a gallery of images from the King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard marathon show in Chicago courtesy of photographer Nick Langlois along with videos of the Murder of the Universe suite and more from Bootleg Lizard. The band’s tour continues this week in the Midwest with stops in Minneapolis, Wisconsin, St. Louis, and Omaha en route to a three-show, two-night run at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Find tickets and a full list of tour dates on King Gizzard’s website.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — “Robot Stop” > “Big Fig Wasp” > “Gamma Knife” > “People-Vultures” > “Mr. Beat” — 9/1/24
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — “Welcome To An Altered Future” > “Digital Black” > “Han-Tyumi, The Confused Cyborg” > “Soy-Protein Munt Machine” > “Vomit Coffin” > “Murder Of The Universe” — 9/1/24
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — “Swan Song” > “Set” — 9/1/24
Setlist: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Huntington Bank Pavilion At Northerly Island | Chicago, IL | 9/1/24
Marathon 1: Robot Stop > Big Fig Wasp > Gamma Knife > People-Vultures > Mr. Beat, Sad Pilot > Rats In The Sky > Daily Blues -> Cut Throat Boogie, You Can Be Your Silhouette -> Iron Lung, Crumbling Castle > The Fourth Colour, Hell > Predator X, Dragon > Flamethrower, All Is Known, Straws In The Wind, Welcome to an Altered Future > Digital Black > Han-Tyumi, The Confused Cyborg > Soy-Protein Munt Machine > Vomit Coffin > Murder of the Universe, Swan Song[1] -> Set, Head On/Pill
[1] With intro jam
Show Notes: Robot Stop featured Ambrose on saxophone and contained Sad Pilot teases. People-Vultures contained Iron Lung teases & quotes. Mr. Beat contained Sad Pilot teases. Sad Pilot was introduced as a song about donkeys and dedicated to band soundman Joe Santarpia. Rats in the Sky was introduced as a song about chickens in the sky. Cut Throat Boogie contained The Bitter Boogie teases and was dedicated to Magic Sam. You Can Be Your Silhouette was dedicated to Alex Brettin of Mild High Club, who then briefly appeared on stage. The Fourth Colour contained quotes of Gila Monster and Mars For the Rich. Straws In the Wind contained a Rattlesnake quote. Welcome to An Altered Future was played for the first time since 2018-03-16. (304 show gap) This was also the first time the suite was performed in full. Set featured Joey on guitar and Ambrose on saxophone. Head On/Pill was not on the written setlist and featured Ambrose on saxophone and contained an Am I In Heaven? tease, Chang’e quotes and a Hot Water jam with lyrics.
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