Words by Rowdy

Hey everybody, Rowdy here. We’re trying a new monthly column (Nice V!) where a different site team member rounds up some notable, favorite, or just downright awesome tracks (or shows or albums, etc.) for your listening pleasure. We’ll share what we love about the music and unearth some hidden gems (which can all be found on our very own Gizztapes.)

This month, I’m building a top five from a specific show I come back to easily once a week; probably safe to call it my favorite show I haven't attended. I’m definitely revealing my psych rock lean here but King Gizzard's performance from PALP Festival 2023 is just so dense with great moments. Check out the full setlist here:

2023-08-14 Bonatchiesse Bagnes, Switzerland

PALP is an incredibly scenic festival taking place on various dates in the Swiss mountains. Big bucket list vibes. We’re gifted a rare 4k video re-upload from back before the consistent tour live stream:

The show opens with “Float Along – Fill Your Lungs,” our first highlight. Before this date “Float Along” opened exactly once on November 2, 2013 in Sydney, a rare choice right away. But it carries its energy as an opener just as well as the classic “Float Along” tour closer. After two fairly straightforward verses, the jamming begins around 4:00. The slow build from the main riffs of “FAFYL” into the harder riffs of what we now know as the “Dragon” jam still send shivers up my spine. And give me Cavs in those sunnies and short shorts any day.

From here, our second highlight conveniently brings us into the next song on the setlist: “Lonely Steel Sheet Flyer.” It would have been awesome to have a > here out of “FAFYL” instead of a full stop, but after a quick reassurance from Stu that they “clearly have no idea what [they’re] doing. But all the best things in life are like that, right?” and a classic soul-shattering Stu scream, they're off. You heard it here first (and last): Quarters! Is underrated and this version of “Steel Sheet Flyer” is the burden of proof. Spacey riffs that still hug you tight, beautiful noisy breakdowns, and an open tapestry for the weave of that NASTY lyrical “Ice V" jam (9:55); what’s not to love?

Wasting no time, we get the > I always crave with a seamless flow into “The River,” our third highlight. There is so much to love here, minute after minute: “Ice V” teases at the beginning, the jam at 7:00, unique from just about every “River” I’ve listened to while still in the song structure, a classic Stu pose and guitar improv at 8:05, a spacey jam back into Part 2, and excellent improv 9:00-11:00. Oh man, just go listen to the fifth longest “River” by our records, which I’m dubbing the “Yenisey River.”

Here, I have to give my honorary mentions to “Crumbling Castle” > “The Fourth Colour” as a personal favorite duo, although after hearing what they’ve done with the jam in “Fourth Colour” after Flight B741, it just doesn’t hold up anymore. There IS an incredibly hilarious moment where Stu forgets the lyrics of a verse of "Crumbling Castle" and just hums along. However, the “Sleep Drifter” here is too good not to talk about…

The start of the microtonal section brings us a tease-dominant intro of “Sleep Drifter” (“Rattlesnake” and “Am I In Heaven?”). Fairly vanilla verses lead into “Billabong Valley” quotes but, wow, that jam just before the transition to “Honey”... make it a song! This is the longest “Sleep Drifter” according to our records (9:23) and what a lucid dream it is. Beautiful transition to end here but a rather generic “Honey” means the pair doesn't make the list together.

But we do have another runny liquid to feature and it’s a boiling hot “Magma,” which just misses the top ten closers (18 times). We get a big ‘ol jam starting around 3:30 with some very simple but impactful riffs before heading back into the “rumble” section. The jam picks back up around 7:30 and is one of the first instances that I can find of what I call “turning the corner” on the “Magma” jam, building at 10:35 and going even harder at 11:30-ish (best example is at 7:00 in the Houston ‘24 version). After this, we’re completely out of any structure of the remaining song and into “holy shit” territory. Joey, Stu, and Lucas turn to face Cavs to end the song, moving as one to not miss a single cue. Really just an incredible moment to end an even more incredible show.

Honestly, the whole setlist deserves a listen as it is very strong overall. Drop us a “listened” show review on the setlist page here if you do get all the way through. However long you listen, I hope you enjoyed my highlights! Next month we’re going to have another Nice V, so stay tuned to the King Gizzette for another selection soon.

Editor's Note: On Friday, January 9 at 9:00pm Eastern KGLW.net will host a watch party of this killer show via our YouTube channel. Join the event here and keep an eye on our Forum for a show thread. All are welcome to watch, listen, and join the discussion.