Mirage Motor City: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Go Acoustic In Detroit
Watch full-show video of the stripped-down outing in Motown.
By Nate Todd Aug 26, 2024 • 9:40 am PDT

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard continued their 2024 North American Tour on Friday at the Aretha Franklin Amphitheater in Detroit. The Australian rockers went acoustic for the concert, offering stripped-down takes on new and old favorites along with a bust out to seal the show
The acoustic set marked KGLW’s first since May 31 in Brighton, UK. The setup in Detroit saw guitarists Stu Mackenzie and Joey Walker on acoustics, drummer Michael Cavanagh behind kit (complete with gong), Ambrose Kenny-Smith on upright piano and Cook Craig toggling between Mellotron keys and guitar.
Advertisement
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard kicked off the concert with a buoyant take on “Theia,” a very Gizz-like choice for an acoustic show as the track opens the band’s October 2023 electronic album, The Silver Cord. The “Theia” song and jam fittingly saw the band touching on “Motor Spirit” — off their June 2023 LP PetroDragonic Apocalypse — a “The River” jam with “Wah Wah” quotes and The Silver Cord’s title track with lyrics.
Walker then led the band through Ominum Gatherum favorite “Ambergris,” which was introduced as a song about sperm whales and also saw Cavs working the kit on a truncated drum solo.
KGLW then got into material from their new album Flight b741, performing four songs off the 10-track album: “Rats In The Sky,” “Sad Pilot,” “Flight b741” and “Mirage City.” The band debuted “Mirage City” at their Brighton acoustic outing. The Flight b741 segment saw the band in a classic rock mood with Cavs teasing Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” and Joey playing with Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.”
Following a discussion on talkback mics during an extended intro on Sketches of New Brunswick East cut “You Can Be Your Silhouette,” Stu played some “interesting” (as Joey put it) “jazz” riffs and Walker improvised lyrics (“We’ve entered the muzak portion of the joke/I’ll see you in the elevator soon”). The tune also saw more classic rock teases with elements of The Doors’ “The End.”
Mackenzie and Walker then got out their microtonal acoustics (they only had one in Brighton) for the Ambrose Kenny-Smith standout “Straws in the Wind.” The song saw Amby venturing into the crowd as usual.
A K.G.L.W — the rockers’ companion albums released in 2020 and 2021 — segment followed, beginning with L.W.’s “Pleura” paired with K.G.’s “Automation.” As they are wont to do, the band welcomed a fan, Vincent, to kick off “Nuclear Fusion” (the only non-K.G.L.W. cut in the sequence) followed by “Honey.” The K.G.L.W. segment was capped with a song about “loser hypermasculine people,” “Minimum Brain Size,” which was dedicated to Donald Trump.
Joey then went into the crowd to hold a Q&A session. The music resumed with Flying Microtonal Banana favorite “Rattlesnake” followed by Amby on the album’s “Billabong Valley.” A Polygondwanaland pairing of “Crumbling Castle” and “The Fourth Colour” followed. The band saved a bust out for last, wrapping the concert with “Her and I (Slow Jam 2).” King Gizzard last played the I’m In Your Mind Fuzz rarity over a year ago on June 18, 2023, for a gap of 50 shows, as per KGLW.net.
Find full-show video of the Detroit acoustic concert below:
00:11:24 | |
00:26:00 | |
00:31:34 | |
00:37:02 | |
00:44:03 | |
00:51:20 | |
00:58:39 | |
01:05:55 | |
01:15:55 | |
01:22:31 | |
01:28:30 | |
01:35:45 | |
01:43:00 | |
01:52:25 | |
02:03:18 | |
02:08:00 | |
02:19:40 | |
02:24:08 |
Chris Dempsey (See 12 videos) | |
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (See 135 videos) |
KGLW’s North American Tour continues on Tuesday in Philadelphia. Scroll down for the band’s tour routing and ticket info.
Loading tour dates
Advertisement
Setlist (via KGLW.net)
Acoustic Set 1: Theia, Ambergris, Rats In The Sky, Sad Pilot, Flight b741, Mirage City, You Can Be Your Silhouette, Straws In The Wind, Pleura > Automation, Nuclear Fusion, Honey, Minimum Brain Size, Rattlesnake, Billabong Valley, Crumbling Castle > The Fourth Colour, Her and I (Slow Jam 2)
Show Notes: Before Theia, Ambrose quoted Fried. The song itself contained Motor Spirit quotes, a The River jam with Wah Wah quotes, and Motor Spirit and The Silver Cord jams with lyrics. Joey did Michael Jackson-style vocal improv in the intro to Ambergris, which was introduced as a song about sperm whales and contained a short drum solo. Joey did an impression of Guy Fieri before Rats In The Sky. Cavs teased Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin) before Sad Pilot. Before Flight b741, the band got Cavs to hit the gong on his kit. After Flight b741, Joey teased Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix) and Cavs teased Rock and Roll again. You Can Be Your Silhouette contained an extended intro where the band talked about how their talkback mics work and jazz notes. During the song itself, which contained a The End (The Doors) quote, it was introduced as a song about being yourself. During the intro to Straws In The Wind, the band joked about Ambrose swimming over to Canada and Ambrose walked up to the lights and sound booth. Nuclear Fusion featured a kid from the audience (Vincent) on the intro. After Nuclear Fusion, Stu shouted out the stream crew. Honey contained O.N.E teases. Minimum Brain Size was introduced as a song about “loser hypermasculine people” and was dedicated to Donald Trump. Prior to Rattlesnake Joey conducted a Q&A session with crowd members and Sam. During Billabong Valley, Ambrose climbed on top of a truck on the side of the venue. Her and I (Slow Jam 2), which was last played 2023-06-18 (50 show gap), contained a Slow Jam 1 intro as well as Iron Lung teases.
KGLW NA Tour '24 Coverage
-
Game, ‘Set,’ Match: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Seals Toronto Show With Live Debut
-
'Am I In Heaven?': King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Offers Free Livestreams Of North American Tour
-
'The Dripping Tip' Dip: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s Stu Mackenzie Goes Swimming At Thompson’s Point Show
-
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Bring New Songs, Marathon Shows & More To NYC + Boston
-
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's Tour Takes Flight In Washington D.C.