Australian psych rockers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard played two consecutive marathon shows at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO on Monday and Tuesday. The band delivered two 90-minute sets each night and premiered the two 15-minute tracks from its new album, Laminated Denim, during the intermissions.
After delaying the Red Rocks run three times due to COVID-19, KGLW arrived at the picturesque amphitheater raring to go, and so did the crowd. Long lines of fans waited for their turn to purchase vinyl and other merch as the sun started to descend and the band emerged on stage, kicking off the long-awaited run with “Mars for the Rich”, off 2019’s Infest the Rats’ Nest. The first set of the weekend included selections from the band’s recently released Omnium Gatherum and the even more recently released Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava.
During the intermission, KGLW premiered “The Land Before Timeland”, the first of two tracks from the band’s newest release, Laminated Denim, which was made for the occasion.
Set two started with a tease-heavy “Rattlesnake” with quotes from “O.N.E.”, “Automation”, “Honey”, “Sleep Drifter”, and “Minimum Brain Size”. The medley turned out to be a preview of what was to come, as the band proceeded to play “Automation” and “Honey” with additional teases of “Sleep Drifter” and “Billabong Valley” before segueing into “Sleep Drifter” and “Ataraxia”. Fellow Aussie artist Leah Senior, who opened the shows, joined the band for a sequence of “The Reticent Raconteur” > “The Lord of Lightning” > “The Balrog” > “Trapdoor” with an extended flute jam in the latter. The band concluded night one with “Hot Water”, “The Grim Reaper”, and “Planet B”.
Tuesday, the venue was likewise bustling with anticipation as the crowd filled the natural amphitheater. King Gizzard opened the show with a celebratory “The Dripping Tap” in honor of Joey Walker‘s birthday, followed by “Gaia”, which featured a mid-song drum solo by Mickey Cavs. The set included “Cut Throat Boogie” with snippets of “My Babe” and “Got My Mojo Workin'” and bassist Lucas Skinner‘s favorite song, “Sea of Trees”. “The Bitter Boogie” closed the set as the third “Boogie” song of the night, following “Boogieman Sam” and “Cut Throat Boogie”.
Just as they had on night one, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard used set break to premiere a new song from Laminated Denim, “Hypertension”. Known for their prolific output, KGLW’s debut of two new compositions is all the more impressive considering they had recorded a whole other album specifically for the occasion but ended up releasing it and writing another after the run was postponed (the first album was released as Made In Timeland, of which Laminated Denim is an anagram).
The final set of the run featured 19 songs including the six movements of “Altered Beast” suite with Leah Senior narrating as she does on the album. Following runs through “Muddy Water”, “Iron Lung”, and “Robot Stop”, the band closed out the run with “Gamma Knife”, “People-Vultures”, and “Mr. Beat” with a reprisal of “Iron Lung”.
Check out fan-shot videos, full-show audio, and galleries of photos from King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard at Red Rocks Amphitheatre courtesy of Zack Luther/Lazyeye Photography below.
nugs.net will stream King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s three Red Rocks shows from October 14th, 15th, and Nov 6th once audio mixing is complete. Streams are available to purchase with 48-hour on-demand replay here.
Setlist: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO | 10/10/22
Set 1: Mars for the Rich, Hell, Magenta Mountain, Inner Cell, Loyalty, Horology, O.N.E. (Straws in the Wind tease), Nuclear Fusion, All Is Known, Straws in the Wind, The Garden Goblin, The River (Crumbling Castle & Wah Wah quotes), Magma
Intermission: “The Land Before Timeland” (world premiere)
Set 2: Rattlesnake (O.N.E./Automation/Honey/Sleep Drifter/Minimum Brain Size teases), Automation, Honey (Sleep Drifter/Billabong Valley teases) > Sleep Drifter > Ataraxia, Evil Death Roll, Ice V, The Reticent Raconteur (with Leah Senior) > The Lord of Lightning (with Leah Senior) > The Balrog (with Leah Senior) > Trapdoor (extended flute jam), Hot Water, The Grim Reaper, Planet B (replaced Venusian 2 & Am I in Heaven?)
Note: 3 hour marathon show. Delayed three times due to COVID-19. Soundchecked: Ataraxia, Honey, The Garden Goblin, The Lord of Lightning. Pre-show song selection was One More Night (Can), Only You Know (Dion), Raining Blood (Slayer), Children of the Grave (Black Sabbath) & Sugar on My Tongue (Talking Heads).
Setlist: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO | 10/11/22
Set 1: The Dripping Tap (celebrating Joey’s birthday), Gaia (Mickey Drum Solo mid-song), Predator X, Organ Farmer, Pleura, Oddlife, Doom City > K.G.L.W., Boogieman Sam > Cut Throat Boogie (My Babe & Got My Mojo Workin’ snippets) > Sleepwalker, Sea of Trees (Lucas’s favourite song, Head On/Pill tease) > The Bitter Boogie
Intermission: “Hypertension” (world premiere)
Set 2: Perihelion, I’m in Your Mind, I’m Not in Your Mind (with Alter Me tease), Cellophane, I’m in Your Mind Fuzz, Tezeta, A New World (with Leah Senior) > Altered Beast I (with Leah Senior) > Alter Me I (with Leah Senior) > Altered Beast II (with Leah Senior) > Alter Me II (with Leah Senior) > Altered Beast III (with Leah Senior) > Ambergris, Muddy Water, Iron Lung, Robot Stop, Gamma Knife, People-Vultures, Mr. Beat (with Iron Lung reprise)
Note: Second night of three 3-hour marathon shows. Soundcheck included Tezeta, Altered Beast I, and The Dripping Tap. Pre-show song selection included Calypso of House by Key Tronics Ensemble, I Saw the Light by Todd Rundgren, Under Mi Sleng Teng by Wayne Smith, Milestones by Miles Davis, Tell Me What It Is by Graham Central Station, and Ramble Tamble by CCR.
