King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Debut “Fishing for Fishies” at Netherlands Rave Show
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, photo by Maclay Heriot
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard continued their trek across Europe over the weekend with three further dates in the penultimate leg of their 2025 World Tour. The genre-obliterating psych ensemble’s latest dates have bounced between rave and orchestral arrangements, and stagings in Tilburg, Netherlands, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands and Gdańsk, Poland on Nov. 6, 7 and 9 brought more of each.
After returning from a three-month break with a surprise rave show in their Melbourne stomping grounds, and three more in England from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard delivered the fourth rave show of their packed live itinerary on Thursday night at Tilburg’s 013. While their orchestral shows follow a stable structure, enlisting local symphonies to bolster grandiose renditions of Phantom Island and a select few older cuts, King Gizzard’s rave sets are far less predictable. These special sets give the band a forum for their most experimental impulses in non-stop, electrifying electro-acoustic mayhem.
Encircling a modular synthesizer table – affectionately named “Nathan” – at center stage, the sextet turned in unpredictably altered versions of familiar favorites, beginning with a first-time electronic treatment of their 2022 single “Ice V.” Further first rave versions came with “The Bitter Boogie” and “Muddy Water,” followed by staple entried for the format, “Dreams,” “The Grim Reaper” and “Swan Song.” The biggest surprise of King Gizzard’s Thursday show, and arguably of their Euro-tour so far, was their long-awaited live debut of “Fishing for Fishies,” the beloved title track from their 2019 studio album. The track was the only song on that project that never made it to the stage; frontman Stu Mackenzie wrote back in 2020 that they’d originally rehearsed the upbeat opener, but “it sounded shit haha.”
King Gizzard proceeded through a brief “Smoke & Mirrors” before a grand finale of “Magma.” Friday and Sunday’s orchestral sets featured the Sinfonia Rotterdam and Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and were distinguished by swapping the post-”Grow Wings and Fly” jam with band-only versions of “Evil Death Roll” and “Gila Monster.”
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard will return to the stage tonight for another rave show at Berlin’s Columbiahalle, then continue with four further stops in Europe through Nov. 15. The band will close out their year of touring with a nine-stop Australia series in December. Find tickets and more information at kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com.
