Concert Review: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard w/ U.S. Girls at Forest Hills Stadium, Queens, NY

There are very few bands as popular and simultaneously enigmatic as Australian rock (?) group King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Throughout their 15 year career, the band has officially released 27 albums ranging from all types of genres including psychedelic, thrash metal, and synthpop to name a few, as well as miscellaneous explorations into microtonal tuning. The group has also made a name for themselves for their enthralling live sets, frequently switching up their formula to make every show feel unique. This year, the Australian six-piece has undertaken a tour highlighting their latest album Phantom Island, bringing along an entire orchestra and playing the record in full. However, at Forest Hills Stadium in New York, the band added a second “Rock N’ Roll” show dedicated to more deep rock-centric cuts than most of their setlist. This was the date I was fortunate enough to attend, and from beginning to end, I found myself immersed in a fascinating world beyond anything I could’ve expected.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s fanbase is a group commonly known as the “Weirdo Swarm,” and while their name may seem offputting for those who know nothing about the band, I found nothing but kindness whenever I talked with some of them. Before the show began, I had a conversation with a few members at the barricade who mentioned it was upwards of their 20th time catching the band and how they still hadn’t seen every song from them. Considering the literal hundreds of songs in the band’s discography, the task of witnessing every single one of them live (especially outside of Australia where the group has played the most shows) feels quite Herculean. However, when the band took to the stage and kicked off “Gaia,” it was clear the audience had done their homework. Whenever the group played basically anything, there was always a clear chunk of the audience who were singing along with every word, even with the monumental 15-minute closer “Hypertension.” Some highlights were the throttling “Supercell” from the group’s 2023 thrash metal record, PetroDragonic Apocalypse, as well as “Road Train,” the closer from Nonagon Infinity. It takes a strong fanbase to be this engaged with every track of the show, especially without any prior knowledge of the setlist. 

The group’s setlist had a healthy dose of their 2022 record, Omnium Gatherum, including “Predator X,” “Ambergris,” and “The Grim Reaper.” This was a great choice considering the collective influences that carried the group throughout the years. About a third of the way through the set, the King Gizzard team rolled out the newest member of the group, a synth machine named Nathan. The group surrounded Nathan and started to bounce around while performing a nonstop jam of “Sense,” “The Grim Reaper,” “Set,” and “Extinction.” It could be easy for Nathan’s appearance to feel out of place considering the heavier aspects of the songs the group played prior, but while the songs Nathan appeared on were primarily synth-pop oriented, the King Gizz magic was still there, making all the tamer aspects feel right at home. 

I found so much love and pure excitement throughout the five hours I spent at Forest Hills Stadium, and I left wanting so much more. I cannot wait to see what this band has in store for whatever they have in store next year, whether it’s a new record (or two, or five) or a new tour. You can check out King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s extensive discography here as well as their remaining tour dates here.

Opening up the monumental night was U.S. Girls, a Toronto-based project from the mind of Meghan Remy. A barefoot Remy walked onstage with her band and flung into a set of hits from her discography including “Jack” and “28 Days.” There was a sense of the dramatic with U.S. Girls’ performance, as Remy auctioned off a copy of her newest album Scratch It to a member of the audience for $115 before ripping up the money during the track “4 American Dollars.” However, the highlight of the performance came during the final song. the centerpiece for Scratch It known as “Bookends” where Remy climbed to the opposite end of Forest Hills and back. For those who have been to the stadium, it’s truly a magnificent feat.

U.S. Girls will be appearing a few more times in North America before heading across the Atlantic for some overseas shows. You can check out their tour dates here as well as Scratch It here.