King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Offer Otherworldly ‘Superposition’ Debut In Athens

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard concluded their three-night run at the Lycabettus Theatre in Athens on Friday. The Australian rockers debuted “Superposition” off their 2017 album Gumboot Soup as the penultimate song of the show.

King Gizzard kicked off the concert with the thrasher “Mars for the Rich,” off the band’s 2019 LP, Infest the Rat’s Nest. A two-song swing through Polygondwanaland, “Crumbling Castle” and “The Fourth Colour,” followed with the latter containing a “Dripping Tap” jam with lyrics.

Multi-instrumentalist Ambrose Kenny-Smith then led his co-write with guitarist Stu Mackenzie, “Straws in the Wind,” to launch a microtonal suite. The band got help on the K.G. cut from their manager Michelle’s son Lawrence. Amby also quoted the title track to the band’s new album, Phantom Island, which arrives on Thursday and started up the “free free Palestine!” chant which the audience continued after the conclusion of “Straws in the Wind.”

Gizz continued in microtone mode for “Minimum Brain Size” and “Nuclear Fusion.” The fan intro for “Nuclear Fusion” was provided by Tom who was rocking a Bullant shirt, the side-project of guitarist Joey Walker. The sextet then took a trip to “Antarctica” ahead of “Le Risque,” a pair of tracks off KGLW’s most recently released album Flight b741.

King Gizz split the Flight b741 cuts with a rock version of “Theia,” off the group’s 2023 electronic album, The Silver Cord. The band debuted the rock version of “Theia” earlier on their European tour in Barcelona. The Athens rendition contained a “Land Before Timeland” jam and “Iron Lung” teases and quotes.

Next, KGLW dedicated “Ice V” to “the incredible country called Greece.” Walker recounted the story of his appearance in the “Ice V” video which was filmed on the Greek island of Idra. The band then continued their thorough exploration of Murder of the Universe in Athens, this time performing nearly the entire third disc: “Digital Black” > “Han-Tyumi, The Confused Cyborg” > “Soy-Protein Munt Machine” > “Vomit Coffin” and finally the title track. KGLW.net noted that the disc three opener, “Welcome to an Altered Future,” was on the setlist but not performed.

As the second to last song of the show, Gizz played “Superposition” for the first time seven and a half years after its release on December 31, 2017. A Joey-led song, “Superposition,” is about “quantum superposition, a scientific principle which describes how a quantum object can exist in multiple places at the same time,” as per KGLW.net. The website also noted that “Superposition” was one of the band’s first synth-featuring songs.

The debut in Athens saw Walker and Mackenzie at the synth table while drummer Michael Cavanagh, bassist Lucas Harwood, Kenny-Smith and multi-instrumentalist Cook Craig remained at their respective stations. Stu and Joey utilized “robot voice” effects during the performance. The “Superposition” debut clocked in around 17 minutes. Gizz wrapped up the concert with “Float Along – Fill Your Lungs.”

Watch the full concert below via Chris Dempsey:

Setlist (via KGLW.net)

Set 1: Mars For the Rich, Crumbling Castle > The Fourth Colour, Straws In The Wind, Minimum Brain Size, Nuclear Fusion, Antarctica, Theia[1], Le Risque, Ice V, Digital Black > Han-Tyumi, The Confused Cyborg > Soy-Protein Munt Machine > Vomit Coffin > Murder of the Universe, Superposition[2] -> Float Along – Fill Your Lungs

Footnotes:

• [1] Rock version
• [2] Debut

Show Notes: This show featured the debut of Superposition. The Fourth Colour contained a Dripping Tap jam with lyrics. Band manager Michelle’s son Laurence joined the band on stage for Straws in the Wind, which contained Phantom Island quotes and Ambrose chanting “free free Palestine”. The audience continued the Palestine chants after the song, with the band repeating the slogan once along with them and then again during Minimum Brain Size. Before Nuclear Fusion, Joey thanked King Stingray and DJ Crenshaw. A fan named Tom provided the vocal intro on Nuclear Fusion wearing a Bullant shirt. The rock version of Theia was performed, which contained a Land Before Timeland jam and Iron Lung teases & quotes. Before Ice V, which was dedicated to “the incredible country called Greece”, Joey told the story of his appearance in the Ice V music video, which was filmed on the island of Idra. The song itself contained Ain’t It Funky Now (James Brown) teases. Digital Black was preceded by a tease of A New World. Float Along – Fill Your Lungs contained a Motor Spirit jam with lyrics, a Han-Tyumi, The Confused Cyborg tease, Theia teases and quotes and a Muddy Water tease. Welcome to an Altered Future was on the printed setlist before Digital Black but was not played.

Opening Band(s): King Stingray, DJ Crenshaw

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard begin their three night run at the Jun 9 Ancient Theatre of Philippopolis in Plovdiv, Bulgaria today (June 9). Scroll down for the band’s full tour routing and ticket info.