This show was truly insane and the best I've been to. I got tickets to every show in the whole tour except for the this one and I was going around asking for tickets until the very last group of people helped me getting in with a FREE ticket so I'm super thankful for them but the setlost is what really made the night special for me. Nonagon was my first album I've heard by them so when they started robot stop I went right in the pit and was lost until they played me beat but that was just the start of the night. Hypertension ripped and hot water is always just a powerful song. At the end of the concert they played a new song off of pda supercell and the pit exploded again for another 4 songs until they ended it with Gila monster which got all of us screaming. Loved the show and loved the people can't wait for the rest of the tour.

Posted this review to a blog I write but I figured Gizz fans would enjoy it here too!

After setup, the boys walked from outside the massive cave to the stage, protected by a Tennessee security force wearing cowboy hats. The band thanked Kamikaze Palm Tree before launching into the classic drum intro signifying “The Dripping Tap” from “Omnium Gatherium” released last year. This song is great for electrifying an audience and that it did, quickly. Mosh pits immediately formed up front and in GA as they launched into the jam.

Next up was the literal first half of the intense psych rock album “Nonagon Infinity”. Robot Stop -> Mr. Beat (5 songs) was played with no interruption. Punctuated by fast guitar playing on shorter songs, massive breakdowns, and some of guitarist Stu McKenzie’s (vocals, guitar, microtonal guitar, synth, keys, flute) famous guitar poses, “Nonagon Infinity” is a live experience that grabs on and doesn’t let go.

Never one to stop good flow, Gizz transitioned into a three song jam of Iron Lung → Hypertension → Hot Water. I don’t know man, “Iron Lung” in the cave hits different and this version was an instant classic. “Iron Lung” gave way seamlessly to the spacey rock song “Hypertension” and the jam was finished with “Hot Water”, signaling Stu McKenzie (guitar, microtonal guitar, flute synth, keyboard) to break out his flute and put Ron Burgundy to shame.

Ending the jam session, the band took a well deserved break to setup before launching into three songs from 2017’s “Polygondwanaland”. The three songs that compose this prog rock trilogy (“Inner Cell”, “Loyalty”, “Horology”) tell a fantasy story and can best be described as sounding like if Tool also throat sang.

Good thing we took that break for three songs, because things heated up immediately with an (at the time) unreleased live debut. Off their latest album “PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation” (still serious), “Supercell” would feel at home at a Metallica concert if they switched time signatures every verse. This was followed by a pair of songs from 2019’s metal “Infest the Rat’s Nest” and concluded with another unreleased metal song “Gila Monster”. I wasn’t 100% set on “Gila Monster” until I heard 1400 people chant “Gila! Gila!” and fist pump simultaneously: this is a frighteningly good live metal anthem.

As shown by the set list, King Gizzard absolutely came to rage Night 1. I thought it had a very solid offering for some of the harder Gizz fans but softer, electronic, and microtonal fans probably left without hearing their favorites. This is one of the down sides of a Gizzard show: no repeats at the same venue and 24 studio albums means you wont always hear what you want.

6.1.2023 highlights/notes

2nd jam in Tap
-Good stuff w the hot water tease but especially great when the whole band pushes it into the hypertension like jam. Starts off w Stu teasing the intro of hypertension but they veer into more of jam that you'd hear deep into a normal hypertension jam, not just a medley here. Real smooth segue back into drip drip segment of Tap.

Robot Stop through the 2nd Hot Water after Hypertension is an uninterrupted hour + of music (19:10-1:21:30)
-Robot Stop has a nice chilled out, almost deadish jam segment before going into hot water
-Hot water contains a nice, heavy wall of sound build before going back into Robot Stop
-Gamma ending has a nice quiet segment w gong washes, rebuilds into a blasted out Gamma peak before rolling into People Vultures
-Really cool little quiet jam at the intro of People Vultures, bring it back into this same jam extended after the first verses. Highlight of the show jamming wise IMO, very pretty stuff. Love it when they explore this side. Kinda sounds somewhat familiar, think they may revisit this jam later in tour in other songs. Great peak after they bring it back into People Vultures, Cavs blasting it out w double bass
-Mr Beat band brings it into a nice funky groove, some great guitar interplay, lot of fluttery licks. Cut a little short but hit a fantastic space before smoothly transitioning into Iron Lung
-Iron Lung has real great interplay between the band. love Stu's tone in the jam and mix w Amby's sax near the beginning of the first jam. Killer whammy licks from Stu, melty psychedelic goodness. Wavy peaky tones in the second jam, excellent stuff. fires a few lazers before brining it back into the main iron lung riff. nice transition into Hypertension
-Hypertension jam is great, bringing back that wavering/whammy tone from Stu in the peak, almost sounds like a violin at times. Segment around Witchcraft jam meanders a bit, doesnt connect in any big way before bringing it back into caught that hypertension peak, which is stellar, blistering high. Cool hot water peak before segueing very smoothly into it.
-Hot Water truckin along hot right out of the gate. some cool synth work from Amby at the start. the water becomes less hot and loses some of its steam before bringing it all together for a great "everybody standing in" peak, gets real good when stu picks back up the guitar to finish it out.

Gila is a killer closer

(Copied from my Weirdo Swarm Profile)

 

Night 1 in the cave did not disappoint. Kind of a "greatest hits" of the heavier catalog, I would give it 4/5 if not for the fact that this was a PERFECT set for the setting. I sat on the rocks in the back with my wife and made tons of friends. We prob had the best view in the house outside of VIP and really got to take in the cave ambience. Super Cell debut had my brains on the back of the cave wall because that shit blew my mind. Gila killed as well - I thought the cave was going to implode from sheer chaotic energy. A night I will not soon forget.