King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Deliver ‘Murder Of The Universe’ Tour Debuts In Athens

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard launched their three-night run at the Lycabettus Theatre in Athens on Wednesday. The Aussie rockers brought songs from their 2017 album, Murder of the Universe, into the European tour for the first time.

King Gizzard kicked off the concert in microtone mode with “Open Water” and “Automation” ahead of “Oddlife,” which the band broke out during their run in Barcelona. KGLW then headed to “Mirage City,” the opener off their most recently released album, Flight b741.

Next, King Gizzard got into the Murder of the Universe suite. MOTU was one of five albums the band released in 2017 and is described by KGLW.net as a “sci-fi metal opera.”

The trio of tunes got underway with a break out of “Altered Beast I,” last performed on June 16, 2023 for a gap of 96 shows, as per KGLW.net. Next came “Alter Me I,” both a bust out (LTP May 18, 2024) and the most commonly played song of the show. The band capped the suite with the first performance of “Altered Beast II” since March 14, 2024.

King Gizzard then returned to Flight b741 with “Raw Feel” ahead of Fishing for Fishies (2019) blues rocker “Boogieman Sam.” A “Mirage City” call back during the jam on “Boogieman” saw multi-instrumentalist Ambrose Kenny-Smith quoting the title track to the the sextet’s next LP, Phantom Island, which arrives next week.

The band’s Stu Mackenzie, Joey Walker, Lucas Harwood and Cook Craig then gathered around the synth table for “Chang’e” from the 2023 electronic album The Silver Cord, with drummer Michael Cavanagh remaining behind the kit and Amby on keyboard at his station. “Chang’e” clocked in at 20 minutes and was unfinished.

Gizzard then got into the heavy stuff with a mixed bag from 2019’s Infest the Rat’s Nest, 2023’s Petro Dragonic Apocalypse and 2022’s Omnium Gatherum. The sequence went: “Venusian 1,” “Converge” > “Witchcraft,” “Predator X” and “Hell.”

Following “Hell,” Joey introduced the band and Stu introduced Joey. A “free free Palestine!” chant then broke out in the audience with the band urging the crowd to “say that shit louder!” The concert came to a close with “Her and I (Slow Jam 2)” and “Magma.”

Watch KGLW’s opening night in Athens via Chris Dempsey below:

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard return to the Lycabettus Theatre tonight (June 5). Scroll down for the band’s full tour routing and ticket info.

Setlist (via KGLW.net)

Set 1: Open Water, Automation, Oddlife, Mirage City, Altered Beast I > Alter Me I > Altered Beast II, Raw Feel, Boogieman Sam, Chang’e[1], Venusian 1, Converge > Witchcraft, Predator X, Hell, Her and I (Slow Jam 2) > Magma

Footnotes:

• [1] unfinished

Show Notes:

Altered Beast I was played for the first time since 2023-06-16 (96 shows), Alter Me I was played for the first time since 2024-05-18 (64 shows), and Altered Beast II was played for the first time since 2024-03-14. (72 shows) Raw Feel contained Am I In Heaven? and Head On/Pill teases. Boogieman Sam contained Sad Pilot & Altered Beast II teases, a Mirage City jam and towards the end Amby quoted Phantom Island. Chang’e was unfinished. After Hell, Joey introduced the rest of the band, followed by Stu introducing Joey. The audience then chanted “free free Palestine!”; the band encouraged them to “say that shit louder!”.