Oct 77 min read

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard / Geese: Concert Perspectives

By Gavin Bohan and Iva Peric

On September 1st, Iva and I went to see King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard at the Huntington Bank Pavilion on Northerly Island. I am a seasoned fan of the band, having followed them for a couple years now. Iva is not a fan, so this was a new experience for her. Not only had Iva never heard the band, but she also had nothing to expect with one of their shows. Having to roam the venue while I was taking press photos must have been quite the experience, but I will leave that story to her. First, I will give my accounts of the concert experience. Let's talk about the opener first.

Days before the concert, I saw flocks of geese sitting on the Huntington Bank Pavilion lawn as I left 12th Street Beach. They were sitting in preparation of what was to come. Geese is a band I became a fan of soon after they were announced to be the opener for King Gizzard on this tour. Their sound took a bit of time for me to really start enjoying, but when it hit, it hit. Their classic rock sound with punk influences on their newest album 3D Country is surely a unique one that I can’t really get anywhere else. Their first album Projector is also underrated within the fanbase in my opinion. The album really impressed me with its dance punk sound, especially as the band’s first full length LP.

Geese really impressed me with their set, even with its length being only less than a sixth of the time of King Gizzard’s set. The singer, Cameron Winter, is also on guitar this tour, and his singing stood out as well like it always does. They really balanced moments of beautiful melodies with chaos. As a drummer, I am often focused on the drums of the performance, and Max Bassin delivered. I really like how he tunes his snare to make it sound like he is really whacking it with a higher pitched crack in certain louder parts of their songs. Overall, Geese was a great choice for an opener for this tour, and I can’t wait to see who opens for them when they eventually headline bigger shows like this in Chicago. I also loved seeing the geese from days before flying through the sky above the venue during their set.

This was the third time I had seen King Gizzard since I started listening to them. King Gizzard tends to not repeat songs after returning to a city, so I had some suspicions of what they would play, but no knowledge. Little did I know, I was in for one of the best shows I have been to. I should have expected it, because no matter what combination of songs they played, I would have been thrilled. For the following three or so hours, I would be trying my hardest to look professional and to not dance while my favorite band was playing some of my favorite songs.

The band would start with songs off their album Nonagon Infinity. I have always wanted to see songs from this album live, so seeing this many of them was a treat for sure. When the band started with "Robot Stop," I assumed that they would play at least a couple songs from the album as each song leads into another. They played over half the album in one nonstop performance with improvisation and teases to other songs, my favorite being "Iron Lung." I was already mouthing the words to all the songs as I held the camera up to my face.

The band proceeded to play both some of their newest songs off their newest album Flight B741, as well as a song as old as one of their oldest official albums from 2012. There was a brief slow down with "You Can Be Your Silhouette," then back into the jamming with now a full rendition of "Iron Lung." Next played were my two favorite songs from Polygondwanaland, the fan favorite "Crumbling Castle" and, unexpectedly, one of my personal favorites: "The Fourth Colour." We then got some of my favorite metal songs of theirs, most of them being responsible for me starting to appreciate the metal genre more.

King Gizzard fans can usually expect at least a short microtonal section, which Chicago got with "All is Known" and "Straws in the Wind." This led into the incredible "Han-Tyumi" suite of their album Murder of the Universe. The band played hard and sang loud between and during sections of "Han-Tyumi’s "robotic voice telling his story on the big screen.

It was around this time in the concert where I ran out of the small amount of storage the camera had left, leading me to take some more photos and videos on my phone. I captured one of my favorite moments here as Stu Mackenzie crouched down while playing screeching guitar noises with his guitar over his head, sticking his tongue out at the camera.

The band then took out the famous (within the fanbase) electronics table for some techno jams. I was very pleased to hear the song "Set" get a lot of attention. The electronic jams, which lasted until the “end” of their set, included some great improvisation and acoustic/electronic drum playing from Micheal “Cavs” Cavanaugh. I was pretty fixated on Cavs for a good portion of the show. Not only is his playing always impressive, I am always impressed how he can keep playing how he does for these shows, especially with this one being a three hour marathon set. I can’t stress enough how each member plays a huge part in bringing their music alive during their concerts.

As the concert time wound to a close, the band walked around stage talking in their earpieces. Cavs walked up towards me and some other photographers near me at this time, which was crazy. They had time for one more song: "Head On / Pill." This was a song they had never played in Chicago, despite the song being out for over ten years.. I feel very grateful to be seeing the band. It’s a big city with a lot of fans, so we get pretty historic shows from the band. I’ve gotten to see several song debuts and generally great moments from the band here. If I had the money, I would be one of the diehard fans who goes and sees the band around the country, but I am lucky to live in a city where I get to see them live.

This was an overall bizarre and incredible experience that I have been thinking about how to express since it happened. I usually stray away from taking many photos and videos at concerts. I try to enjoy the music and appreciate the artist as much as I can to avoid just being that guy who is there to have photos instead of being there for an artist I really love. I had the excuse to document this whole concert while I was there, which was both amazing yet very unnatural for me. Knowing that my purpose being there was to take photos made me feel much better about it, though. I am also honored to have great photos and videos that other photographers and even the livestream didn’t catch. It makes me feel like I contributed to the band’s history in a weird way. Even watching the livestream back and seeing myself taking photos and trying to contain myself right in front of the band is super bizarre.

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As a new viewer of both King Gizzard the Lizard Wizard and Geese, having listened only to a couple of their songs curated for me by Gavin, this experience was one that is now engraved in one of the many grooves in my brain. I came into this experience open minded, but I wasn't ready for the explosion this was truly going to be. Right off the bat, my knowledge of this band was molded by their internet presence, and what I've heard from my peers; all good things of course, but seeing as they average around 1.5 million listeners on Spotify, I was expecting a smaller crowd. Boy, was I wrong.

When we got there, the line for Huntington Bank Pavilion was trailing around and about. It was truly packed, people of all ages - both 60 year old's and 8 year old's - were in line ready to experience the magic of King Gizzard. As Gavin mentioned earlier, we got split up right at the beginning of Geese's set, but being alone at this concert did not bring down the mood at all. People around me were very excited, the vibe was high, and the energy was good.

Geese's set was a short lived 30 minutes, time flies when you're having fun, but it was memorable nonetheless. They started setting the mood for the night, with their punk/funk mix, it was definitely the right choice to have them open. They started off their set mild, with a gradual increase, making sense for what was coming up next.

King Gizzard's set, on the other hand, was one that was long, but even felt too short as the concert came to an end. The crowd around me would definitely agree, as many started to groan when they realized we were reaching the last couple songs. Their set was one that was not only well rehearsed, but was also one of the most entertaining concerts I've been to. They have amazing vocals and instrument control, but they also have a great stage presence and visual effects. The screen behind the band constantly matched the songs they were playing, and their light shows were all the rage. King Gizzard said "take 5" but the lights and effects team heard "change lives," because this was so perfectly choreographed.

They also knew how to control the crowd, and they were familiar with the type of audience they had. They were bantering with them, making jokes about things in their community, and kept up a setlist that worked with the energy. People were non-stop screaming, singing, jumping, dancing, and overall having a really good time. It was contagious. After the 3 hours, King Gizzard let us know that they were finishing up and they thanked the audience for the engagement and the good time, people started to shuffle out, and the only thing that could be heard was comments like "wow I'm glad I got to see them again," "that was awesome," or things of that sort. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard do they're best when it comes to creating unique experiences for their fans, and Geese only amplified it. I am eternally grateful for this opportunity to experience them play live.

Here is the selection of the rest of some of our favorite moments Gavin captured!