Photos by Joshua Braybrook
They delivered over 90 minutes of psychedelic bliss to their wanting fans.
Friday June 28 at the sold-out Forum Theatre, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard were on stage for the second night of their national tour. The previous night, they made their headlining debut at the iconic theatre, having only performed there once before – opening for The Drones in 2013. Attendees were treated to an action-packed 20-track set spanning over 90 minutes from the psych lords, with no filler, monologues or breaks.
The lights dimmed and images from their upcoming album Infest the Rats’ Nest materialised on the backdrop – a golden toothed artefact. With the theatre bathed in red light, King Gizzard arrived on stage. The band members were arranged on levels, with their rhythm section – bass guitarist Lucas Skinner and drummers Eric Moore and Michael Cavanagh placed on the top. Lead vocalist Stu Mackenzie, keyboardist Ambrose Kenny-Smith, guitarists Joey Walker and Cook Craig on the ground level.
The opening riff of their new track ‘Self Immolate’ starts the show and the crowd immediately throws a fit. More songs from Rats’ Nest follow – ‘Planet B’ and ‘Mars for the Rich’.
Drinks are being thrown in The Forum’s open section, crowd surfing already underway. The audience themselves are on the verge of self-immolation – warm Gizzhead bodies are mashed together leaving no room in between.
Visualisations appear throughout behind the band – fire graphics, colour spectrums, glitching static. All processed as though it’s been converted to VHS and had acid poured on it. There’s a live feed of the band as they’re playing, endlessly overlapping upon itself. This is a trip.
King Gizzard fire off two signature tracks back to back – ‘Robot Stop’ and ‘Gamma Knife’. Iconography from their Nonagon Infinity album is displayed, flying polygons, fractal zooms and digital canyons. These two songs could rile up the stalest of crowds and will always be a staple of their live performances.
Onwards, it’s a mixed bag of newer tracks.
The yellow microtonal guitar is unleashed and a few licks off its dedicated album are played – ‘Sleep Drifter’ and ‘Billabong Valley’. Tracks off Fishing For Fishies manage a bulk of the night’s setlist and provide a good switch up of pace. Amidst the continuous chaos of each song, ‘Cyboogie’ – one of Gizz’s more curious releases, gives the audience some breathing room.
But not for long. A performance of ‘Murder of the Universe’ is as merciless and mind-melting as they come. This section feels like mass, a pious moment as the band sludges away at the instrumental together with the robotic voiceover featured on the track. The transcription appearing on the backdrop – “I am electric, I am on fire, this is sex, I am everyone and every zero”. Is this sex? It might just be.
The gig closes with another three new songs – ‘Organ Farmer’, ‘Venusian 1’ and ‘Hell’. At the conclusion of the last track, Stu abruptly says “Thank you, bye bye”, and they exit.
To realise King Gizzard’s many musical personas and reach, one only needs to look at the crowd. It was a turnout of all ages and faces, attracting fisherman beanie’d hipsters, shaggy-haired thrashers and everyone in between. King Gizzard is Melbourne’s own Grateful Dead, whose sacramental live acts are slowly becoming the stuff of fables.
