Mixing it up slightly for tonight’s support slot, King Gizzard And The Lizard took a more measured approach – whether it be out of reverence for the man who inspired the title of Garage Liddiard, or simply a less-attacking stratagem to comply with their role as the night’s warmup. Playing tracks from their recently released Eyes Like The Sky was a curious choice, especially when performed sans Broderick Smith’s spoken word narrative. Hell, they didn’t really play any of the tracks at that respective album’s launch. Seeing frontman Stu perform his trademark projectile spit catch and release, you can’t help but picture him doing the same the following night in the hallowed stage of the Opera House. They closed with Sea Of Trees, perhaps their best track, which inadvertently provided a titular segue into the headlining act.
Weighted heavily towards their new album, tonight’s setlist was crafted with a fine dynamic. It was a case of I See Seaweed tracks being played out much similar to tracklist order with a select few ‘greatest hits’ peppered intermittently.
Gaz is a bit of a shaggy-haired bastard these days, pitting his feral snarl against his, and Dan Luscombe’s, violent bursts of guitar. New belter A Moat You Can Stand In was a triumph, as was the live staple cover of Kev Carmody’s River Of Tears. Gaz’s banter tread a fairly safe territory, baiting an audience member before an improvised rendition of the Jaws theme – which of course, led into Shark Fin Blues.
They sounded bloody amazing. Fiona Kitschin’s bass-work was a near-show-stealer, and ‘new guy’ Steve Hesketh’s piano and organ elements deftly switched between textural flourishes and percussive menace.
There was a perfunctory grace present this evening, a calculated rebirth into the album touring cycle. Even when The Drones play it safe, they still sound a thousand times more dangerous than anyone else out there.
BY LACHLAN KANONIUK
Photo credit: Richard Sharman
LOVED: New material was top-notch, but I’m always a sucker for I Don’t Ever Want To Change.
HATED: That I thought I could make the transition from The Drones into Kangaroo Skull in the one night.
DRANK: Water.
