King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard light up Alexandra Palace with an electrifying gig
Who would have thought a band named after something a child was doodling in maths class would eventually make it to selling out the 10,000 capacity Alexandra Palace? This is not to say the band haven’t been working hard. During 2017 alone they released 5 albums, and this year have already clocked up 2 - the latest being the deliciously heavy concept thrash metal album about environmental collapse, Infest the Rat’s Nest.
It came across as all the more heavy in the wake of Fishing for Fishies, a bizarrely cheerful-sounding album driving by skiffle boards and harmonica solos about some of the same themes. The set list for this gig does a good job of balancing material from these two most recent releases as well as including some older material. Songs from a career spanning a whopping fifteen albums and counting provides the accompaniment for what was some of the most electrifying crowd energy and biggest mosh pits I have ever come across.
Any gig at Alexandra Palace promises to be an experience. The venue just has so much history and such a dilapidated decadent feel. Any sold out gig at Alexandra Palace promises to be an incredible experience, seeing as this is a venue which can hold 10,000 people - all standing. There are no seats here, just one massive pit to be used however the audience see fit. In this instance, to dance, crush and mosh to an electrifying set of thrash metal and electronically-driven boogying anthems.
The set kicks off with ‘Self-Immolate’, a track which prompts the first crush of the gig as soon as the initial riff kicks in. Following is ‘Mars for the Rich’, an undeniable highlight from Infest, already one of the strongest albums of their career. The pits reach their peak for ‘Crumbling Castles’, the ever-building sinister epic from Polygondwanaland. ‘Boogieman Sam’ is a highlight of a different calibre, as the crowd begins to bop up and down in time to the very danceable beats, and Ambrose’s harmonica solo sees him stage dive into the crowd, to the audience’s delight. The ‘Planet B’/ ’Rattlesnake’ combo sees the pits open up again, with a 10,000 strong crowd chanting the immortal words to describe all the climate panic and despair around at the moment - “there is no planet B”.
The gig closes with ‘Float Along, Fill Your Lungs’. This is abnormal for this tour, which has seen each concert close with Infest closer, the epic ‘Hell’. However, no one could possibly complain to be missing out on yet another moshing opportunity in favour of this heartfelt and tear-jerking rendition of one of this band’s most beautiful songs. It comes directly after expressions of gratitude from all of the band, making the whole gig seem all the more special as people all around me raise lighters and phone screens and sway along to the last few minutes of the perfectly beautiful chaos which is a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard concert.
