King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
6th – 9th December 2017
Whammy! Bar, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Doug Peters.
Aucklands Whammy! Bar has been sold out the last four nights. Each and every night by the same psychedelic rock band … No amount of begging, borrowing or down on the knees with cap in hand could have secured a ticket. All available ones having been snapped up and held onto like precious jewels by hundreds of fierce dragons.
What single group could have possibly achieved this? None other than Australia’s own King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.
As fans tumbled through the doors of Whammy! and gathered around the stage the sweet sounds of surf noir from the four piece known simply as La Luz were the first to fill their ear canals. These outstandingly talented women from Los Angeles in California formed in 2012 serenaded the audience with tracks from both their studio albums It’s Alive and Weirdo Shrine, the vocal harmonization’s between both Shana Cleveland and Lena Simon on bass made all the more richer by Pino on drums and Sandahl on keys.
The high energy levels of the audience were then lovingly smoothed over by the sultry cocktail lounge bar sounds of the Mild High Club. Referring to itself as “a stone in the zen garden of la slack funk psychedelia” Mild High Club filled the room with a vibe that made all who embraced it sway like soft trees in the afternoon summer breeze.
With musical contentment in their hearts the audience prepared themselves for the glory that was about to be bestowed upon them by King Gizzard. With twelve studio albums under their belts in just seven years – four of which were released this year alone – fans could only guess at what tasty morsels would be gracing the set list.
This seven piece band forged from the flames of friendship is like no other that has ever been seen before. Their presence fills the stage quite literally with a selection of instruments many would not dare dream of amalgamating – a flute and harmonica blend together in the air while punctuated by other such instruments as drums, guitars, a theremin and hypnotic keyboards.
As lead vocalist Stu Mackenzie weaves his tales through songs such as ‘Crumbling Castles’, and the mosh pit inducing ‘Rattlesnake’, members of the audience immerse themselves within the music – moving as one. Bodies were ferried back and forth atop waves of arms and hands; pogoing featuring heavily on the outskirts of the room by those who need to let themselves be electrified by these intricate melodic compositions, while those in the thick of the audience alternate from being a heaving thrashing throng of bodies and hair to swaying towers of flesh and sweat ready to jump back into action at the call of the next distorted riff.
As the night ended on the epic tones of over ten minutes of ‘The River’ many referred to the experience as religious, spiritual and awe inspiring; while others struggled to put into words just how it touched them, instead grinning through sweat drenched tendrils of hair as they climbed the stairs and stumbled into the cool night air.
Indeed words just cannot convey what the lucky few were able to witness over the last four nights; and so as they say a picture speaks a thousand words …
Were you there at one of the magnificent Whammy! Bar shows of this brilliant psychedelic rock extravaganza? Or have you seen King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!