Concert Review: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard at KEMBA Live, Columbus, Ohio on May 21, 2022
Concert Review: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard at KEMBA Live, Columbus, Ohio on May 21, 2022
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard swooped through Ohio this May during their epic intercontinental tour, marking their first Ohio performances in over five years. After a stop at the Cleveland Agora the preceding night, KGLW finally stopped in Columbus at KEMBA Live for the only outdoor performance of this leg of their stateside tour, and the band’s only documented performance in Ohio’s capital city to date.
The capacity crowd was not fazed by the blustery storm that blew through Columbus before and during Jess Cornelius’ opening set, and the driving rain had mercifully dwindled by the time KGLW took the stage to enormous applause.
They started the show with “Superbug,” beginning with a swampy blues riff reminiscent of Cream or Muddy Waters’ Electric Mud. However as is standard for ‘The Gizz’ the song soon devolved into a headbanging anthem with varying time signatures. The band wrote the virulent “Superbug” before the pandemic, however they couldn’t help but referencing it by playfully changing the lyric “Superbug coming up, H1N1 was a flop” to “Superbug coming up, coronavirus was a flop.”
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The band soon surrendered to their frenetic nature with the thrashing stomper “Hell.” Although the mostly mellow crowd seemed to be awestruck and taken aback by this unabashed Eastern-tinged banger, the area closest to the stage quickly became a mosh pit.
‘The Gizz’ then delved into a trio of songs from their Polygondwanaland album: “Inner Cell,” “Loyalty,” and “Horology”. This psychedelic triad came as a surprise to even their most devoted fans, as these were the band’s first performances of the “Horology trilogy” since October 2019.
Next up was “Magenta Mountain,” a catchy crowd favorite. This tremolo-soaked tune took a demented turn during the improvisational bridge’s frenetic guitar lead, harkening back to early Faith No More.
While taking the time to give a shout-out to their Columbus fans, vocalist/guitarist and bandleader Stu Mackenzie recognized their likely first ever performance in Ohio’s capital city by commenting “I don’t think we’ve ever played here. Have we played here before? This is the funnest show of the tour, and we’ve never been here.”
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“Cut Throat Boogie” got the crowd dancing and swinging with raucous leads on harmonica and guitars. The band certainly had fun with this blues stomper, interjecting the chorus of Jimmy Smith’s “Got My Mojo Workin’” and their own “Boogieman Sam” while declaring “I’m so horny, horny, horny!”
The band followed with “Persistence,” held down by a snaky, meandering bass line. As is common for the band’s Middle Eastern-tinged compositions, the guitars ventured into the Egyptian and Persian-inspired musical modes known as the Hijaz and Phrygian dominant scales before returning to the final refrain.
Next, the band briefly teased their anthem “K.G.L.W.” – originally presented as the first track on their 2020 album K.G. – before forging ahead into “Billabong Valley.” The graphic lyrics of “Billabong” describe the bloodthirsty bushrangers; escaped convicts like the infamous “Mad Dog Morgan” who holed up in Australia’s bushy terrain during its early years as a British settlement. The song devolved and deconstructed into delay-driven, feedback-laden chaos, complete with maniacal laughing in its final moments.
Related: The Top 100 Neo-Psychedelic Albums
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After the cacophony subsided, they burst into “All Is Known,” the microtonal song originally released as a single in 2017 before being re-released on their album Gumboot Soup. “All Is Known” is yet another foray into the odd, clashing time signatures that permeate the band’s repertoire.
The band returned to the aforementioned “K.G.L.W.” to deliver an extended rendition of the eponymous anthem that concluded their 2021 album L.W. While reviewing L.W. in Psychedelic Scene Magazine last year, this reviewer noted that “(t)he foot-stomping, acid-drenched bridge takes the intensity to eleven in its final moments” while envisioning being “surrounded by headbanging legions hypnotically reciting their initials in a glorious finale.” Sure enough, this opus was even more intense when performed live by the band, and the devoted crowd was every bit as obsessively entranced and enamored by “K.G.L.W.” as this reviewer predicted.
The eclectic concert concluded with “Am I In Heaven?” As Mackenzie started crooning the melody with minimal instrumentation, the crowd in the pit simultaneously sat down on the concrete, an odd but appropriate way to convey their attention and appreciation. The song’s ballad-like intro quickly intensified into a British rave-up, complete with snarled verses and wailing harmonica. The band dynamically swelled and receded while exploring several different motifs during this prolonged finale. They ecstatically bounced around onstage while teasing and reprising several of their own songs including “The Dripping Tap”, “Cellophane”, “Persistence”, “Magenta Mountain” and “Sea of Trees”, ending with a euphonic crescendo.
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King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard is on fire right now, and the band members are clearly having the time of their lives. And how could you blame them? Their intercontinental tour of 2022 – their first extensive tour since 2019 – is the stuff of legend. The band is globe-trotting and crossing the pond between North America and Europe several times, often to capacity and sold-out crowds, while showcasing their skills at premier festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo. After another jaunt through Europe this August, the band returns to North America in late September for a five-week tour of the U.S. and Canada that includes stops at renowned and historic venues including the Greek Theater in Berkeley and the Coloradoan favorite Red Rocks Amphitheatre. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard is living the dream in 2022, and it’s no wonder that the band finds itself asking the question “Am I In Heaven?”
Visit the band’s official website at https://kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com
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KGLW 5/21/2022 KEMBA Live, Columbus, Ohio
Superbug
Hell
Inner Cell *
Loyalty *
Horology *
Magenta Mountain
Cut Throat Boogie (Boogieman Sam Jam & I Got My Mojo Workin tease)
Persistence
K.G.L.W. (intro from K.G.)
Billabong Valley
All Is Known
K.G.L.W. (intro from L.W.)
Am I In Heaven? (motifs of The Dripping Tap, Cellophane, Persistence, Magenta Mountain and Sea of Trees)
* last played live on 10/15/2019
Audio by Mystery Jack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgxFR4Ns40A
Video playlist by various contributors:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?=PL_HoGr-g3JzG5hqSBg8QUZ3GnscBaN3Q-
C. Elliott Photography
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