poster by Jason Galea

words by AlteredBeef; concert photo credit to Photon Obscura

There’s this feeling I get--I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced it—it’s when you’re driving over a crest like you do in the American Southwest on the Beeline Highway between Phoenix and Albuquerque. As you climb and then you peak, there are these shockingly vast expanses that open before you. And I don’t mean an overlook or a vista, just a vista. I mean the limits of human eyesight expand before you. And it’s all solid earth that you could walk on or live on if you dared: sand, scrub, cacti, plateaus, undulations, distant peaks. Distant distant distant peaks.

So, this feeling I’m talking about comes to me at the top of a crest while my eyes yearn to stretch as far as I can possibly see. I start to lose what’s underfoot, underwheel. It’s then I get it--maybe you know it, too—that sense of coming unmoored. It’s all that space all around, like you could just launch into oblivion if you let loose of the steering wheel or stole too long a glance into the future. You counteract it by gripping tightly and locking squint-eyed into the road just ahead. I invoke this feeling because I think a lot of us are on this wavelength, and maybe the band is, too, as they look out onto the vast crowds, all the eyes of our troubled country.

photo by AlteredBeef

This recap is coming from the gaze of a Pennsylvania native, on a short tour from Las Vegas, Nevada to Albuquerque, New Mexico by way of Phoenix, Arizona. These three very different stops of Leg Two of the North American part of King Gizzard’s World Tour 2024 were astonishing. But I’ll bring in some of the scenery too, because it was too breathtaking not to try to capture in words. This recap is a bit of a personal reflection, too.

VEGAS

I couldn’t have been more excited to start my trip in Vegas, so excited that sleep hardly came during the short time I had before my alarm rang at 4:45am Friday morning. An early flight out of Baltimore started the journey. All went well on the way, including a window seat on Southwest despite my C49 position. And just as the song goes, I really felt like I needed to leave my problems at the jet bridge. The stress of my own responsibilities compounded with the election result really had me feeling that heavy luggage of life. I’m a fortunate person for many reasons and I recognize that, but I was under some weight.

As the plane neared Las Vegas, I opened my window to look down on the landscapes I’d be driving through to Phoenix and then to Albuquerque. I’d been to Vegas once before for a work conference, but I’d never been outside it. This was going to be my first road trip in the American Southwest. I couldn’t get over the veins across the earth, the alluvial plains. They were all dry; no water anywhere until we started flying over Lake Mead. Those images of the dammed Colorado River, Lake Mead, and the endless desert shaped the journey.

Once I got into Vegas, I met up with Gizzhenge/Brent, author of Brent’s Recs and keeper of the King Gizzard Live Spreadsheet. We’d traveled from D.C. to Forest Hills together and previously met at Chicago. It was great to see him again, and we celebrated the reunion with an MGM Grand Buffet. Thanks, Brent, for the full tank.

We did not have beginner’s luck on the slot machines, but all I needed was a ticket to the show and to be there when the band started. I’d never seen a concert in Vegas before, so it did feel weird to be in the casino one minute and in the concert the next. It was a smooth trip in, and we made our way down to the seats. I got to meet the taper Jay (@puffanug), very nice guy, and saw my good buddy Birds (KGLW.net team member) and was happy to find ourselves in a great spot in front of the board. King Stingray started playing and put on a good set. I was into it, and was feeling the energy of the room, which was the old Aladdin Theater. That name holds some significance for a Phish fan. I’d say this room now holds significance for King Gizzard fans, too.

So, before Gizzard gets on stage, I have to tell you that I really love band statistics. It’s not for everyone, and I totally get that; but I love seeing how many times I’ve heard certain songs, which ones I haven’t, the bust outs I’ve seen, debuts, album distributions, and all the rest. My Phish stats have a decent sample size after two decades of fandom. Gizz I haven’t been able to see nearly as much…yet. This trip would take me up to double digits, and I liked that. My work/life balance just doesn’t allow for long stretches on the road. This trip was a big exception, and my wife was in full support of my going. My kids were a little bummed they weren’t coming along. But as you’ll find out, this trip to the desert won’t be my last.

When the band took the stage, there was room to dance and I was ready to rock. Stu and Joey simultaneously shouted, “hellLLLLLOOOOOOO,” they laughed at the synchronicity, tweaked a few tuning pegs, then at once they both grabbed the mic and started greeting the crowd. Realizing they were talking over each other, they laughed, stepped back, and then it happened again! Totally in sync before the show even started!

photo by Photon Obscura

“Evil Death Roll!” This is one of my absolute favorites, and I could not believe they were opening this show with it. Against all odds, I’d already seen it three times (Philly ’22, Chicago ’23, D.C. ’24). This song is always at the top of my wishlist and hearing it first thing in Vegas immediately made me feel the travel was worth it. This version did not include Invisible Face. But I had caught the rare Invisible Face played as a standalone song in Chicago. Fair enough. This one from Vegas won’t replace other favorites but that didn’t matter at all. I started realizing it wasn’t only Stu and Joey who were in sync, it was the whole band, crew, and crowd.

Han-Tyumi Suite was another I could not believe they were playing. The energy was high, they were totally right about the screen making it extra special, and as the second part of the show, amazing. I’ve got a personal connection to this one…so, I made a class of freshmen listen to the Han-Tyumi Suite. I teach college writing and we were talking about artificial intelligence, so it seemed to make sense. Can’t say I made any converts to the band but I have to try to keep things interesting for them and myself. This was a gripping version and I felt fortunate to have such a great vantage of it.

“Flight b741,” “Sad Pilot,” and “Rats in the Sky.” I’m a big fan of this album and am still feeling these songs after hearing them most during the first leg (and many times in between). I was especially excited that “Sad Pilot” got extended into a pleasant jam, but not excited that I was hearing a bit of it from the bathroom. Those casino beers got me.

“Daily Blues” is the song off the album that I love the most, so getting a third one after excellent versions in Forest Hills and Philly really had me feeling extra fortunate. That was really going to be true if the jam segued into “Hot Water.” I like the “Cut Throat Boogie” and “The Bitter Boogie” versions, and the one that segued into “Sea of Trees” from St. Louis in September was on my mind, but “Hot Water” is one of my favorite songs. The Philly version was a great one, too. But before we get to the segue, “Daily Blues” itself was kind of gut wrenching, I have to admit. It hit different after this goddamn election. The message still holds, which is what makes it hard. We still have to rise above hatred, and we can only do that with love. But love comes in many forms, mind you--and just then, Cavs picked up the pace, the short jam was ending, and I saw Stu grab the flute. I couldn’t help but feel the symmetry of it with a call to lay down our weapons/love our enemies balanced with the plea to remember that our world is boiling. They embolden us to embrace the worst of them, but “Hot Water” confronts our best intentions with “Sheet of paper/Mountain raper/Moment silence/I am spineless.” It’s always like that, I think. Acts of bravery are such because you’ve overcome that spineless creature that lives inside, who wants to cower at those who destroy rather than build. But us Gizz fans are builders, we’re lovers, we’re the kind who will stand in the hot water and dance.

photo by Photon Obscura

That’s something I’ve learned by loving this band, loving to embrace what before I felt was outside of my bounds. This band has expanded my tastes and opened my eyes and connected me to so much beauty. It was a beautiful feeling when (as of yet unnamed) Nathan was rolled onto stage. The Set funk jam from Philly is one I loved in person and had relistened to a bunch so I was in the mood for another of those. I couldn’t even have asked for what we got. “Interior People” and” Shanghai!?” I really had my doubts if Gizz would ever do "Interior People," so to hear it at this show was just incredible. Such a great song. Then, "Shanghai"! The European tour of Spring ’23 is one of my favorites, and “Shanghai” really reached new heights in many of those shows. The now familiar “Grow Wings and Fly” made its first cracks in the chrysalis of "Shanghai" in Warsaw, Poland and Vienna, Austria. Just now in Texas the song became its own entity. A song like that has to travel to be born. Just like monarch butterflies.

photo by Photon Obscura

“The Grim Reaper” through “Dragon” had me soaring. I was fully absorbed into the flow of the show by this point. The heaviness of my first “Perihelion,” catching myself on the stream having a great time during “Converge,” and the intricacy of “Witchcraft” when I recall focusing on the playing of each band member. “Dragon” is a wild ride and I was glad to be able to fly with this one again.

Then I struck it lucky once more. “KGLW Outro!” They played this at my first show, less than a week after I started the site. It felt like it was meant to be then, again when I heard it at Forest Hills, and this time at the end of this epic show. This whole KGLW venture has meant so much to me. More importantly, it means a lot to many wonderful people who have built our website and everything connected to it. So, this song makes me amped up for this whole venture. Yet the song itself is not joyful: “When the claws come out, cage me too/I’m an animal too.” I can’t decide if it’s about purposefully caging yourself off to keep from getting in trouble or if the song is about being ready for a cage fight with another beast. Maybe it’s a howl to those of us lacerated by this election, and those suffering so many cruelties out there, a call that to create art and celebrate it is being in the fight.

photo by Photon Obscura

photo by Photon Obscura

“Rattlesnake” to close. Amazing! Another showcase for Jason Galea’s talent with a great use of the video screen, and the high-energy peak that got the crowd roaring. Though that wasn’t their state the whole show. I was up close enough to feel the energy the entire time, but when I’d look back there were more sitting and statuesque people than I would expect. A lot of people had their first Gizz experience and probably quite a few without any or much prior knowledge. But it sounded like everyone loved “Rattlesnake.” We took it slowly out of the casino and stopped for a bite, meeting up unexpectedly with our buddy Javier (jaminthestream). Good to see him out there wherever live music is played. And then we made it back to Motel 6 right off the airport, not a bad spot for our first night of three.

The morning came early, and we hit the road after taking a lap around the Sphere. We picked up new friends Brent (two Brents in the vehicle) and Natalie. It just so turned out that Brent grew up very close to where I now live, and he's a concert photographer. Two great coincidences. (Thanks for the use of your photos, Brent.)

This for me was one of the most incredible drives of my life. The scenery of the Sonoran Desert was to me truly astonishing. Over and over I took photos from the car window, but only using my phone for that purpose because I did not want to miss any of what was appearing all around me. Living where I do in hills, valleys, folds of the Appalachians, you can only ever see so far. The vastness of this overtook me. If only we had had the time to walk off for miles into the expanse just to see what it felt like. I really had this urge to set my eyes as far off as I could—distances unlike anything I’d ever seen—and just get on my horse and ride out.

photo by AlteredBeef

--Keep an eye out for Part Two…..Coming…Soon….in which we cross the glittering desert, encounter an oasis, and journey to Phoenix, then on to Albuquerque–

(Part Two)