The “jam band” label is a divisive one between longtime King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard fans and newer fanatics who have jumped on since the group’s recent improvisational experiments coinciding with 2022’s Omniun Gatherum (particularly 18-minute standout “The Dripping Tap”). Though many in the ravenous fanbase still denounce the label, the band has made it harder and harder with exploratory, improv-fueled performances around the globe. On Tuesday, King Gizzard poured more gas on the incendiary debate with the first-ever jammed-out “Plastic Boogie”.
Tuesday saw the whirling dervish of Australian psych-rock visit The Criterion in Oklahoma City on the winddown of a breakneck and widely acclaimed North American tour. After opening with “Planet B”, following it up with “Supercell”, and pairing together “Converge” and “Witchcraft”, King Gizzard arrived at “Plastic Boogie”. Taken from 2019’s Fishing for Fishies, the ecologically-driven “Plastic Boogie” (with the repeated phrase “F–k all that plastic”) had appeared 42 times in concert, but none were like the version audiences heard in Oklahoma City.
After building to a frenzy in the song’s composed chorus, King Gizzard rode that momentum into an instrumental interlude. As Stu Mackenzie plodded along on a surf-blues riff, lead guitarist Joey Walker put his flying V to use with searing riffs far more intense than the standard jam band milieu. Multi-instrumentalist Ambrose Kenny-Smith‘s harmonica gave the jam a unique feel before “Plastic Boogie” circled back in a blissful return to the song’s form. Setlist database KGLW.net placed this version of “Plastic Boogie” in its jam charts—the first performance of the song to do so—noting that it was “Jammed out like never before”.
Check out a gallery of images from King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard in Oklahoma City courtesy of photographer Andrew Blackstein along with full-show video (“Plastic Boogie” starts at 42:25) and audio on Internet Archive by taper WinterWheat. The band’s U.S. tour continues with shows in Texas, New Orleans, and Atlanta before wrapping in Florida next week. Find tickets and tour dates here.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — The Criterion — Oklahoma City, OK — 11/12/24 — Full Video
[Video: Chris Dempsey]
Setlist: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | The Criterion | Oklahoma City, OK | 11/12/24
Set: Planet B, Supercell, Converge > Witchcraft, Plastic Boogie > Open Water > All Is Known > Straws In The Wind[1], Intrasport -> Set -> Extinction, Iron Lung -> Hypertension, Antarctica > Hog Calling Contest[2], Flight b741[2], The River
[1] No intro
[2] Joey on acoustic guitar
Show Notes: Plastic Boogie contained a Hypertension and The Land Before Timeland teases. Straws In The Wind contained I’m Bored (Iggy Pop), Smoke & Mirrors, and Phantom Island quotes. Set contained Ice V and Work This Time teases. Extinction contained the Flamethrower quotes from the extended mix. Following Extinction, the band shouted out Nathan, which is the nickname they had given their synth table. Hog Calling Contest was teased before Antarctica, which contained Hot Water teases. Hog Calling Contest and Flight b741 featured Joey on acoustic guitar. The River contained Wah Wah teases and Row, Row, Row Your Boat (traditional) quotes. Le Risque was on the written setlist after The River but was not played.
