It’s always a good time when you get to see King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard live, and seeing them with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia was high on my list this year. I bought lawn tickets as soon as they were available.
As usual, the line for KGATLW merch was long, but it moved well thanks to helpful Ravinia staff keeping things organized there.
The area where we sat didn’t have a direct line view of the stage, but there were plenty of monitors to see the action, and the sound quality was outstanding. It was the best I’d heard King Gizz sound in a long while. All praise to the sound engineers there.
The show was split into two sets, the first being the band and the orchestra playing the new album, Phantom Island, in its entirety. I have no idea how much time each orchestra on this tour in their respective cities gets to rehearse these wild psych-rock songs, but the Chicago Symphony nailed it and were having a great time. “Spacesick” was a particular highlight, and “Grow Wings and Fly” metamorphosed into a stunning jam-rock version of “Theia” that gave the orchestra enough time to take a break, eat a sandwich, answer some text messages, and practically drive to the post office and back before the second set.
The second set was a mix of tunes from older albums that were redone with orchestral arrangements, including an epic version of “Crumbling Castle,” a fun, swinging version of “This Thing,” and even two of their thrash metal cuts – “Mars for the Rich” and “Dragon.” The show ended with a great version of “Iron Lung,” which appears to have become a live show favorite. The weirdest part of the show? Seeing lead singer Stu Mackenzie with short hair.
KGATLW don’t have too many of these orchestral shows left on this U.S. tour, and their “Field of Visions” festival in Colorado is about to begin with the whole thing being streamed live on YouTube. Don’t miss either.
Keep your mind open.
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