King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Give "The Silver Cord" A 29-Minute Debut At Marathon Set In Hamburg [Full Video]

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard took full advantage of their three-hour “marathon set” in Humburg, Germany on Wednesday, offering up a nearly half-hour debut of the title track to their latest album, The Silver Cord. The Australian psych-rock psychos have been digging into the synth-heavy disc while overseas on their nascent European tour in addition to unveiling brand-new compositions, debuting at least one new song every night of the tour so far.

The band’s previous show on Monday in Berlin saw the introduction of a new table setup in the middle of the stage, overflowing with a variety of synths, wires, gadgets, and gizmos. As was the case at Wednesday’s marathon show at Stadtpark Open Air—plagued by rain throughout the non-stop performance—Stu Mackenzie, Joey Walker, Cook Craig, and Lucas Harwood all decamped to the synth table while Ambrose Kenny-Smith stuck to his keyboard rig and Michael Cavanagh remained rock-steady on drums.

While there was no set break at the first of several King Gizzard marathon shows planned for 2024, “The Silver Cord” provided a neat 29-minute breather after high-velocity takes on “People Vultures”, “Evil Death Roll”, “Hot Water”, and other selections from the group’s eclectic 25-album discography. The live debut of “The Silver Cord” was a masterclass in patience, as the synthesizer summit slowly pieced the song together sequence by sequence and layer by layer. About halfway through, the song reached an upbeat peak fueled by Cavs’ relentless drumming before the band deconstructed what they had just assembled brick by brick.

Along with The Silver Cord, the band shared extended mixes of all the songs on the album but Wednesday’s performance still dwarfed even the extended studio version which clocks in at just under 13 minutes. It’s possible that the band didn’t even intend for “The Silver Cord” to run for as long as it did in Hamburg, as “Inner Cell”, “Loyalty”, “Horology”, and “This Thing” were all listed after “Silver Cord” on the physical setlist but not played. Following nearly half an hour of trancey synth dystopia, King Gizzard kicked the show back into gear with Infest the Rats’ Nest chugger “Mars for the Rich”, and they were off to deliver almost another full hour of uninterrupted heavy psych chaos.

Watch King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard deliver the live debut of “The Silver Cord” in Hamburg, Germany on Wednesday, with a time-stamped setlist available below. “The Silver Cord” starts at 1:40:00. The band is in Europe and the U.K. into June before coming stateside for a U.S. tour in August, including marathon shows in New York, Texas, Illinois, and Washington. Visit their website for tickets and a complete list of tour dates.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — Stadtpark Open Air — Hamburg, DE — 5/22/24 — Full Video

[Video: misterlorko]

Setlist:

00:00 Float Along (with “Motor Spirit” tease)
17:12 People Vultures
22:36 Mr. Beat (with “Hot Water”, “Theia”, and “Motor Spirit” teases)
32:21 Evil Death Roll (with “Witchcraft” tease)
44:44 Iron Lung (with “Hot Water” and “Hypertension” teases)
56:25 Hot Water (with “Witchcraft” tease)
1:05:05 Trapdoor
1:10:12 Hypertension (with “Work This Time” tease)
1:23:10 Work This Time
1:34:32 Le Risque
1:40:20 The Silver Cord (Live debut. Without “illumineth the tempest” section.)
2:09:22 Mars for the Rich
2:13:22 Organ Farmer
2:16:10 Supercell
2:22:09 Converge
2:28:30 Witchcraft
2:34:20 Gaia (with drum solo and post song Jam)
2:48:18 Motor Spirit (with The Dripping Tap tease and Gaïa reprise)

Note: 3 hour marathon set. “Inner Cell”, “Loyalty”, “Horology”, and “This Thing” were on the physical setlist after “The Silver Cord” but not played.

View Setlist