APRIL 12th, 2022
KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD

Review/Photo Gallery By: Joshua Alvarez
http://www.metaltitans.com/concertpics/king-gizzard-the-lizard-wizard/

The second day of the King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s North American Tour they made a stop by the ever so beautiful Fox Theater in Pomona, CA. A couple days were added to Southern California because of their back to back weekend appearances at Coachella.  Melbourne based band, Mildlife, opened the show with a psychedelic jazz fusion that sent everyone into a dreamy,yet groovy state. They have a sound along the lines of Khruangbin and Kikagaku Moyo. You almost feel if you are teleported back to the 70’s with their funky, jazz infused, psychedelic disco sound that they have created. Kevin McDowell’s spacey vocals and Tom Shanahan’s  deep bass lines make you feel as if you are taking a trip through time and space with no stops along the way. Ending the set with an 8 minute bass heavy, slow groove “Automatic”, everyone knows this journey is coming to an end.   

After getting the crowd warmed up for King Gizzard, knowing that there is no such thing as a short set from this also Melbourne based band. Coming out to a highly rambunctious crowd with a 4 song intro from the first 4 songs off “ I’m In Your Mind Fuzz” that they gelled together to sound like one long 20 minute jam session. Circle pits, crowd surfers, dancing bodies and nothing but smiles all around the floor of the Fox Theater. Stu Mackenzie fills the stage with a high octane energy that reminds me of Ty Segall and John Dwyer ( Osees). From throwing high kicks, spitting his drink, consuming the mic with his mouth, licking his guitar are all things I would expect to match the energy of the music. Coming off that 20 minute ride of pure adrenaline, they play a song off the 2019 album “ Infest The Rats’ Nest”, which was a very different album that explored Thrash Metal. For not being a metal band they absolutely crushed it and can easily go down as a classic Thrash album.  Planet B delivered crushing vocals, speedy guitar riffs everything that you would expect to create a visceral thrash song. The hot filled theater is full of people who just want more King Gizzard and that is what they are going to receive.

“Work This Time” was thrown right into the middle of the set which was perfectly placed and allowed people to collect themselves and catch a breath before the return of the madness. Off of their upcoming album they proceed to play the behemoth of a song “ Dripping Tap” which absolutely blows the crowd away for an extensive 18 minutes. Ambrose Kenny Smith grabs the mic and climbs off to the right of the stage. As the song continues to build and all eyes, cameras and phones are in pointed in his direction he proceeds to jump off , legs widespread sticking the landing. At this point, they have been playing for over an hour and the crowd is just hungry for more and man do they deliver some fan favorites that send people into a flurry. “Rattlesnake” is intertwined with parts of “See Me” and “ O.N.E “ to create a monster of an ending. The entire floor section has completely formed into a giant rotating ocean of people full of excitement that is moving nonstop. People are singing along “ Rattlesnake, Rattlesnake” as the band is playing their hearts out with the last bit of energy that they have. As the house lights come on, you can hear everyone talking about how their minds were blown by King Gizzard, rightfully so. Do yourself a favor and go check out their massive catalog of 20 albums, I am positive there is something in there that will catch your attention.