King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Unleash Three-Hour Show on Forest Hills Stadium on Friday Night
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Forest Hills Stadium – August 16, 2024
Prior to the Paris Olympics, if someone had mentioned Australia and Raygun in the same sentence, you’d have been forgiven for assuming it the reference was to a song or album by the madly prolific (and sci-fi adjacent) Australian rock outfit King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. While that country’s reputation still recovers from the breakdancer who couldn’t dance, those assembled at Forest Hills Stadium on Friday turned their attention to the Australian rock band that can, and does, do it all. Their three-hour set — the first of two weekend appearances at the venue — kicked off with the live debut of the blues-heavy “Field of Vision,” off the recently released Flight b741, the six-piece’s 26th(!) LP.
The group’s music covers a wide array of genres, and their shaggy fans of all ages were as comfortable in tie-dyes as they were in the mosh pits erupting throughout the night, first for a speedy, ear-splitting rendition of “Gamma Knife.” Fitting for the season, those mosh pits were shaped like hurricanes, with bodies increasingly moving faster toward the center, except for the inevitable one or two standing still in the eye of the storm. Friday’s show gave the band as much room as they needed to display all facets of Gizzardom.
“Mr. Beat,” a sing-along, evolved into a jam that could be played out into infinity. With the sun still shining, the music was firmly on the boogie end of the spectrum with an equally playful rendition of the harmonica-heavy, aptly titled “Boogieman Sam.” But as day turned into night with a red sun setting into Manhattan’s hazy skies, the set turned toward the sextet’s heavier jams of the brown-acid variety.
First came the stellar four-song string of Gizzy mind-palace classics, “I’m in Your Mind,” “I’m Not in Your Mind,” “Cellophane” and “I'm in Your Mind Fuzz.” “God is real. God is a black hole,” announced someone from the stage as they kicked off the speed-metal “Self-Immolate,” complete with an extended, slow-burning drum solo from the inimitable Michael Cavanagh. The tune itself immolated amongst a barraging backdrop of animated, burning flames. Their songs off 2019’s Infest the Rats’ Nest remain the high-water mark for intensity and rocking the fuck out, and it was a bold and impressive feat to tear through that material at the midpoint of a three-hour set, leaving it with their human drummer still intact.
“Gila Monster” was another fan favorite, off last year’s sprawlingly titled PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation. The fans enthusiastically intoning, “Gila, Gila, Gila” felt powerful enough to summon some kind of monster from somewhere in the city, assisted by vocal effects and chants that could’ve rattled out from the depths of a didgeridoo.
The band welcomed a fan named Gabby to sing a vocal intro to “Nuclear Fusion” that Ambrose Kenny-Smith dubbed “fucking haunting.” Just as impressive as their never-ending discography, King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard play wildly different sets each night, an audacious feat on its own but especially so when playing three-hour shows.
Somewhere along the way, Friday’s set reached the all gas, no brakes mark and never let up, finishing with “Rattlesnake” and “K.G.L.W.” Welcome to the city that never sleeps to the world’s most prolific band. —Dan Rickershauser | @D4nRicks
(King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard play the Stage at Suffolk Downs tonight.)
(King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard play Thompson’s Point in Portland, Maine, tomorrow.)
(King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard play the Dell Music Center in Philadelphia on 8/27.)
(King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard play Brown’s Island in Richmond. Va., on 8/28.)
Photos courtesy of Silvia Saponaro | @Silvia_Saponaro
I shot one of the best and crazy performances of this year #ForestHillsStadium this weekend! King Gizzard killed it! Words by Dan Rickershauser, photos by me, enjoy!