When I first saw King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard back in 2019 in New Haven, I had a great time but the show kind of felt like a lot of other live music. This is in no way an indictment of King Gizzard – I have spent far too much money in my life to attend exactly the right amount of concerts, and with so much good music out there currently it takes a lot to stand out.
I was still very excited to see King Gizzard at the Boston stop of their tour but wasn’t quite prepared for what was maybe one of the most perfect live music experiences I’ve ever had. KGLW has released a ton of music the past couple years that I’m really into: Ice Death Planets, Silver Cord, and Changes are all heavy in rotation, but to be honest their evolving sound seems to be falling more in line with my preferences over time.
Well anyway, before I talk more about the show, here’s my recording:
Getting out to the show was pretty awful. I picked up Alex after work and leaving Springfield wasn’t too bad, but we were detoured off the Pike in Sturbridge due to an accident and we spent the next couple hours slowly traversing the middle of the state on narrow and crowded backroads. When we eventually did reconnect with the Pike we only had a dozen or so miles to go, which of course was also slow going in Boston rush hour traffic. We eventually made it to Suffolk Downs (and old dog racing track) and unfortunately the delay made us miss Geese opening the show.
We then waited in an enormously long and very slow moving line to get into the venue, and at the last moment security pulled me aside to say I couldn’t bring in a camera… even though I had emailed the band and they replied with confirmation I could tape the show (very cool of them). Alex went in without me to meet up with Marcello and Kate, and I managed to sneak through a different line on the far side from security.
By the time I got in I missed the Gondii opener, which is a huge bummer because it’s one of my faves but fortunately I didn’t know what I missed anyway. I set up my camera and mics in 90 seconds flat as they played Change and got things rolling just as Extinction started up. I didn’t realize the entire first part of the show would be on the synth table, which was a real treat and very fun.
Segue into Grim Reaper was sick and the Body Movin’ quote at the end was incredible, Hello Nasty is one of my all-time favorite albums. From there the band leaned more into their heavier side with Supercell, and the skies opened up with a massive downpour as if summoned by the band. Normally I’d prefer to stay dry but it really added to the experience, you can see the rain in my recording but it doesn’t quite communicate how hard it was coming down. Thank god for weather sealed cameras, I was praying the whole time but didn’t want to stop the recording and honestly had nowhere dry to put everything anyway.
While they were tuning Joey shouted out a guy in the pit who was holding a sign that said his best friend recently died in an avalanche, and could he play Perihelion with the band in honor of his friend’s (also named Joey) favorite song. They were all into it, and Timmy took the stage. He offered some sage advice: “Anyone here who’s with a friend tonight, just make sure to cherish this moment because it’s a very hard lesson to learn that this moment won’t last forever.” On the long ride out I had shared with Alex some things I had been struggling with, and Timmy’s words felt like a confirmation that I was in the right place with the right people. Thank you Alex and Timmy and rest in peace Joey. Timmy rocked so hard, in a way that surprised everyone including the band. The raw emotion communicated and felt by all during Perihelion was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced and I will never forget it.
From there, the show continued to be excellent, with Hell, Gila Monster, and Magma following in succession and building in energy through a powerful and loud Magma finale that had the whole crowd really moving. At this point, the band could’ve left the stage and I still would’ve left saying it was one of my favorite shows ever.
The band gave our nervous systems a break with some more gentle tunes before hitting a strong Wah Wah, a song that sometimes confuses and this time was no different with most of it felt more like The River to me. Song names are a construct though, and the sounds being made by instruments were awesome. Magma was probably my fave song of the night musically with Wah Wah coming in at a close #2.
The band didn’t leave the stage for an encore break, maybe so they could take both Hypertension and Float Along beyond 15 minutes without hitting curfew. Either way, it was insane how much energy they brought to this finale when they had already been on the stage for two hours without a break. Great end to an incredible show.
My night started off with leaving work frustrated, huge detours and traffic making a 75 minute drive become 3 hours, trouble getting into the venue, and pouring rain through the show. That might be enough to make the night seem bad or not worth the inevitable exhaustion I’d face the next day in my cubicle. But this night had so much that I needed to experience in a hard moment, a reminder that you can have joy and happiness and good things even when other things are shitty. Thank you Alex for your friendship, Joey and Timmy for the inspiration, and King Gizzard for the emotion.