King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are excited to release their new live album Chunky Shrapneldigitally today via ATO Records, with the double LP physical version hitting stores on May 29. Hear the album HERE. The music on the album comes from the performances shown in their new concert film of the same name. The film premiered on Vimeo on April 17, but the band is hosting a second screening tonight for fans who missed the first one (or those who just can’t get enough). Watch the trailer and purchase tickets to the screening HERE. The screening will be available for 24 hours starting this evening at 6pm EST / 3pm PST.
The band has also rescheduled its 2020 North American tour, including their three-hour, career-spanningmarathon sets at The Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA and Red Rocks in Morrison, CO. The new dates begin on October 3 in Berkeley, CA, before taking them across the continent and concluding on October 30 in St. Paul, MN. All headline dates feature support from Leah Senior. See below for the full North American tour itinerary. Tickets are on sale now.
A musical road movie dipped in turpentine, Chunky Shrapnel is a point of view / on stage experience from the perspective of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Once a song begins, just like the band, you’re stuck in the adrenaline-fueled quicksand that there is no escape from. The film’s contention is clear from the outset, it’s going to be a “journey” not a “lecture”, an incurved experience rather than a linear one.
The band, nor the film-makers, were interested in making a self congratulatory “behind the scenes expose” film. It was a direct decision to keep the inner workings of the band’s personality at arms length, it is the music they were interested in exploring. The approach was taken that the film’s protagonist should be the “on stage” performances, that was the focus. With this, they abandoned multiple cameras and cross cutting during performances, turning the camera into a vehicle for the audience to experience the show through, rather than placing them in a crowd or side of stage. At 96 minutes, Chunky Shrapnel more than earns its length. At times gently holding your hand and at other times smashing a bottle over your head and dumping your body in a heaving crowd. There is an inevitability to the film, a driving, ever accelerating spiral that climaxes in a 15 minute medley that spans four countries.
Chunky Shrapnel is directed by John Angus Stewart and scored by Stu Mackenzie.
