all woohoos all the time: the king gizzard and the lizard wizard thread

WOOHOO

🌍🌏🌎

who else here is catching smoke?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L3-HOdMeuM

WOOHOO

it took many years, but I'm on board now

sleeve do you think you'll try to catch them if they ever come through your area?

i'm kind of obsessed with seeing them live. bands don't do that for me anymore. what can i say they've tapped my inner fangirl.

i wore my kg&lw tee shirt to the high on fire show. a crew of jolly looking fellas with glazed looks complimented me on my shirt. there was a lot of effusive nodding.

I've gotten compliments every time I've worn my bootleg Gizz shirt.

hell yeah

they are a popular and good band! ilm is kind of sleeping on them tbr.

yea they are very popular irl and deservedly so, feel like every time I go out I see someone wearing a shirt

if you have the chance to see them live GO, I did knowing very little of their work and only recognized one and a half songs but it was insane, felt like I'd witnessed something legendary. it was a seated venue but I don't think a single person was sitting

xps oh yeah I will totally try to see them now, not sure what their schedule is? they go all over!

#onethread I saw a guy at the BBQ cart the other day with a High On Fire t-shirt w/the band logo in the Master Of Reality font. I had a Merzbow "Pulse Demon" shirt on. "nice shirt" I said. "you too" he said back.

The woohoo on Grow Wings and Fly is all-time

Saw them last night doing one of their 'rave sets' - five of them gathered round a desk with a huge modular synth setup in the middle, and the drummer at the back. Occasionally one of them would break off to pick up a guitar or sax, Stu gave us a bit of flute but it was pitched very low, sounded more like a large sea animal.

A bit of a mixed set, some of the longeurs were a bit too long; but when it went off, holy shit. Massive, Prodigy-like rave bangers played on modular synths with live rock drumming, just incredible. The crowd were super into it, legions of crowd surfers, some weird thing where people would put their hands up, joined at the fingertips, and spin slowly - this a gizz thing?

It's all here, start at 2h 22 for a short build up into the most intense part of the set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikTWrmtZonA

From the other thread, before I knew this one existed:

Was at the Royal Albert Hall show on Tuesday - amazing stuff. First set mostly from the new album, with the Covent Garden Sinfonia. RAH rules stipulate there had to be a 30-minute interval and that the house lights had to be up throughout, but the Gizz, sans orchestra, jammed inna-Live-Dead-stylee for 20+ minutes, then dove into an epic Gaia with long jam section in the middle. Second set included orchestra-aided The River, an absolutely monumental orchestra-enabled Crumbling Castle and a version of Dragon (again, w/orchestra) that was heavier than murder.

Live feed is GLITCHY AF but Prague rave is BANGING

OMG I dropped in at like 2h20 and have been basting in it for 20m and fuuuuck this is sick

lol SIX new 2025 shows just dropped on their bandcamp

https://bootleggizzard.bandcamp.com/

(this includes the London show linked above)

(and the Prague gig)

FIELD OF VISION 2026! they got blood incantation up from denver for it! i am absolutely going. gotta save my nickels.

and forest hills stadium 8/20-8/22. new york though ehhh who gives a shit. j/k

I don't know what it says* that I have not only never heard but never heard of any of the other acts on that Colorado bill, other than Blood Incantation.

*besides that I am old.

i think a lot of them are "in the family" so to speak.

As of 9:02am GMT they are streaming live from Sydney Opera House https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysZYb-V9cDo

Joey currently telling a story of pissing himself at a Drones gig 12 years ago

the orchestra just played Happy Birthday for Lukey

https://bootleggizzard.bandcamp.com/album/mango-sticky-rice

they quietly put out a new album a few days ago. it's all instrumental modular synth noodles so hardly their next proper album

Woohoo! Sounds like something I'll love. Thanks UFO.

And hoooold your horses, this is technically a Stu solo album?!

i was eating a lot of mango sticky rice
and i was thinking a lot about eurorack
and i wanted to try a generative type of thing
set the blueprint and the song plays itself
like a paper plane
you can build the plane and throw it and then its in the wind
mangoes in the wind

love stu
credits
released December 2, 2025

music by stu by machines
artwork by juicey jason galea

That was... innaresting enough, I think. Definitely pleasant. On first listen, it sounds like a lot of the same elements are on "auto run", but they cut out and come back in at different times, so the shape is always morphing. Stu did say it's "generative", which helped modify expectations. But... hmm... yeah, good vibe! Occasionally reminded me of the Butterfly 3000 sonics. I love Stu and will listen more, I think.

someone left
the mangoes
in the wind

Mango Sticky Rice sounding better & better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcbFpyc8qrI
^^^ BRisbane live feed, jumped on midway through Perihelion, now thrashing Converge, it's a metal show mates

i'm there, sound is fantastic but this extended jam out of "am i in brisbane" has been a bit meandering

they invited a guy who said he'd do backflips on stage and he did so many backflips they had to stop playing because they couldn't stop laughing

???

That's awesome.

had to leave early to catch the last train so it was nice to be able to watch the last few songs on the way home

leaving early was a real a shame too because seeing them close with "gamma knife" + "people vultures" would have been a highlight. they could have had the decency to play all the metal at the end instead!

decent show, they're a fantastic live band, but playing mostly deeper cuts makes for a somewhat uneven experience. 20-minute "am in heaven" was half brilliant, half way too meandering. that was probably the only song i was really glad to hear, though the opening microtonal section was pretty good too

seeing them again in a few days for an orchestra show and i'm really looking forward to that

I got the impression after the RAH show that the orchestra gigs and rave gigs have been mind-blowing for them, but they've been really itching to play, y'know, Gizzard shows again, where the setlist can change in a flash, they can drop the deep cuts and they can goof around as much as they like.

If you watched the feed, who was the sportsman whose picture was on Joey's stage monitor for a bunch of the show?

no idea who that is

https://futurism.com/future-society/king-gizzard-spotify-ai-knockoff

no lame content itt thx

Wooooo!

no shade but really can we just keep ai stuff elsewhere?

their decision to pull everything from Spotify looking better by the day

I agree. Didn't want to bring the thread down, just highlighting further Spotify assholery as an affront to these righteous dudes.

In other words, if there’s one band that Spotify should be manually monitoring for AI ripoffs, it’s King Gizzard, but it’s clearly making no such effort. Spotify didn’t reply to a request for comment, though the “King Lizard” account disappeared after we initially ran this story.

They aren't manually monitoring for this stuff because Spotify is the one putting this AI slop on its service.

Yeah, isn't this how Spotify get around Gizzard ditching Spotify? Seriously, I think all streaming services have had a malign impact on the business of music (while also freeing the entire history and present of music, with some exceptions, for everyone to hear), but everything about how Spotify operates and everywhere Ek funnels his unthinkable wealth suggests an absolute parody of horrific end-stage capitalism/fasciam. Given how freely the Gizz give their music, the spirit in which it's made, the rock-hard humanist politics of the group and the way they approach everything they do, the rapaciousnes of such an act is triply, quadruply foul. Fuck this AI Gizzard in the eye, may Ek rot in whatever closest resembles hell.

xp - exactly, it takes a special kind of dupe to believe that Spotify is the secondary victim here, trying ably to play whack-a-mole with these evil AI bots

xps gotcha, i thought the link was something different and i was grumpy this morning. carry on!

phenomenal orchestra show tonight, we got a 15+ minute "ice v" which was fantastic. although, last night got "head on/pill" so i'm a little jealous of that

"the river", "crumbling castle" and "iron lung" were wonderful with the orchestra - letting the orchestra's saxes solo for a bit on "iron lung" was a highlight. even the metal sounded great with it!

Oh man, head on pill is such a banger.

came to realise at the RAH show that Iron Lung is up there as one of the greatest Gizzard epics.

i took a gizzard break for a few months there. happy to come back to flight b741 and have it sound as awesome as ever.

They don't fade.

(Same here, map -- Butterfly 3000 taking the top of my head off once again)

I could really do with a "3-5 new albums within months, or for that matter weeks, of each other" bonanza from these dudes this year.

I think they're happy with their "one a year" pace, but... as a Gizzard fan, I juuuuust missed out on being part of one of those!

are they always 'name your price' on bandcamp or is that a Bandcamp Friday thing?

good question! pretty sure the bootleg/live stuff is name-yr-price but I do think the regular releases normally cost money.

I think they've been name your price since they dropped off Spotify.

I have become Gizard-curious. is there a recommended entry point for these guys?

i always suggest "Omnium Gatherum." If you don't like anything on there you won't like the band. If you like a few tracks you can find whole albums more or less in their respective molds/modes. If you like everything, you can't go wrong with anything else.

this is an "odds & ends" collection that works imo

https://kinggizzard.bandcamp.com/album/omnium-gatherum

lol jinx

perfect, thanks pals!

i think them doing krautrock is probably their most ilm friendly sound. first track on 'omnium' is probably their best krautrock jam so there ya go.

Gaia one of their best thrash songs, too

yeah this is pretty sick tbh (still only on the first track lol). I'm not a big guitar heroics guy anymore, but the style breadth in this one (long-ass) song is impressive

I always feel like their guitar heroics are never about "woah that must be really difficult to play, well done" but about "that sounds fuckin thick, what a rush, what fun noise to hear and thrill too", and that makes all the difference to me

i think best entry point is live in san francisco '16 which covers nearly all the best material from their early motorik period

https://kinggizzard.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-san-francisco-16

"the dripping tap" is incredible but i think the rest of omnium gatherium is pretty mediocre and unrepresentative. like they have more of the thrash metal if you want it but thankfully there aren't any more of their bizarre attempts at hip hop and the synth material on it isn't that much like any of their other synth material idk

KGLW catalog has been name your price for a while, same with the Men I Trust catalog, for those who like that completely different band...

I have an irrational aversion to live albums, but thanks ufo I might try that as the stylistic whiplash on OG was kind of hard to process (I listened through Gaia). "The Dripping Tap" was super impressive though so I am invested now

See, that's one catch of the Gizz, the whiplash (song to song, album to album). It's what I'm wired for (being a longtime Zorn fan weirdo), but it's not for everyone. I played this album for a hippie/jam friend of mine, and the stylistic whiplash that I loved totally turned him off. For me, the metal or krautrock or garage is what makes the Phish stuff palatable. For him, he liked the Phish stuff but couldn't take the other stuff.

I always feel like their guitar heroics are never about "woah that must be really difficult to play, well done" but about "that sounds fuckin thick, what a rush, what fun noise to hear and thrill too", and that makes all the difference to me

I think that's right, and also why their thrash stuff is so on point. I imagine if, I dunno, Phish did a "metal" song it would sound like Dream Theater or some shit, but these guys, they really get to the authentic meat of the metal.

otm

fwiw my real entry point/lightbulb moment was the "Live In Bulgaria 2025" release

which, iirc, opens with "Gaia"

also has a killer version of "Hot Water" which is where I was finally like "OK this is my shit"

laminated denim is also a good follow-up if you just want more krautrock epics like "the dripping tap"

the main reason i recommend live in san francisco '16 is that it's a better, more energetic recording than the earlier albums it's drawing from. they took a while before they could reliably recreate the energy they have live in the studio

i won't hear any ill spoken of their fantastic hip hop numbers.

their only mode i don't really care for is 'jazzy'. some of the tracks on "omnium" fit that description but the songs themselves are strong. the jazzy release i don't care for is 'changes'.

guitars are pretty central to their whole thing. they are great prog metal players (see petrodragonic apocalypse). and then their other guitar mode is fried jam a la grateful dead (see ice death etc. and flight b741). as far as their synth side goes, i think they are at their best on the extended mixes of 'theia' and 'the silver cord' (on the silver cord). and also butterfly 3000. the video at the start of this thread captures a lot of their most appealing qualities imo.

one downside of live in sf is that "hot water" is only 3 minutes and inserted into the robot stop suite, when it's usually at least 7 minutes these days

When they played three nights here at Salt Shed a few years back my buddy and I got there for the night that started with I want to say five or so metal songs in a row to make up for people standing in the heavy rain. We talked to some fans after that follow the band around and they told us we got an awesome set, especially the "Dripping Tap" we got.

i would try and move past genre descriptions to get at what i like most about them though, which would be something like "they are not afraid to write songs that come out of the other side of despair". i think their lyrics are a huge part of their appeal.

guitars are pretty central to their whole thing. they are great prog metal players (see petrodragonic apocalypse). and then their other guitar mode is fried jam a la grateful dead (see ice death etc. and flight b741)

oh yeah I'm not anti-guitar, I knew enough about them to be like yes I want to hear some fcuking jams please. but fwiw the second of these two modes is significantly more appealing, so thanks for the specific recs

xp interesting! I definitely did not clock a single word, will pay more attention next time

they're worth looking up. flight b741 has some very joyous songwriting / poetry on it. lots of reckoning with climate change, life on the planet and what makes it all worth it. plus a flair for very imaginative satire. petrodragonic apocalypse is this very well-drawn dystopic vision that's somehow not depressing at all but exciting. they're maybe a little awkward and dorm room sometimes but they're saved by pure hearts. it's hard for me to not start to get gooey when i talk about it lol.

I love how map has glommed on to and amplified this aspect of the band, because it's otm. A lot of indulgent jam bands, metal bands ... it's rare that any of them could be identified as humanist, but that's really where the Gizz falls. Just good guys that care about shit, even if occasionally through a goofy kaleidoscope.

if you like the fried jam sound, ice, death ... might be right up your alley. it's among their best "jam" records. really weird evocative and touching / life-affirming lyrics about fungi, the strangeness of bodies and the aliveness of earth.

xp my fav story about them is how they brought out a (cheyenne iirc?) elder to bless their show and sing a war song before their field of vision festival in colorado last august. and then they also had kids of attendees many of whom have special needs up on the stage for a "jam sesh". just wonderful stuff.

this is all very good to know

also wanted to say I really like their album art. the gentleman on the cover of Petrodragonic has the most beguiling facial expression

Phantom Island has not one but TWO great covers

yeah that one is a favorite! the lp is gorg.

My fave video (I probably posted it upthread) was the show where someone in the crowd asked to come up on stage to lead the band through his dead friend's favorite Gizz song, and they go along with it, and the fan absolutely kills it and the band loves it.

My second fave may be this show where Stu crowd surfs from the stage through the back of the audience and ultimately to a nearby river, apparently jumps in, goes for a swim, and then makes his way back to the stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNNrS9a9A84

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC6-8zVT0j8

ice, death, etc. is my favourite album of theirs and definitely the jammiest

xp oh man that Perihelion video is simply unbelievable vibes and has warmed me up 5000% with regard to this band

SF16 is a killer live LP, great intro to the band, lots of classic jams, sidelong head on/pill that I will never tire of.

Petrodragonic became my favourite metal LP of theirs after the RAH show last November. IMMENSE Dragon that night, blew my mind.

xp oh man that Perihelion video is simply unbelievable vibes and has warmed me up 5000% with regard to this band

― Cod:Shellfish (emsworth), Friday, February 6, 2026 10:26 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

yeah it's very moving. thanks for posting these jic. the epic crowd surf into the river video is really fucking cool too. pure rock god stuff. pink floyd at pompeii level.

as luck would have it I found a copy of Omnium Gatherum at the local shop last week, used but unplayed, might as well give it a go right now

ok yes I remember Dripping Tap when I saw them this was the moment in the show I got all emotional like, god bless these boys, should also mention the boys and I were doing dabs beforehand which I never do so yeah this was an experience

yeah pretty sure I saw god during that final guitar shred

The Gizz make transcendence their business.

alright, now that I'm through it, I'd say it's like a combination of The White Album and Faust IV

haha otm

The Gizz make transcendence their business.

― TheNuNuNu, Saturday, February 7, 2026 5:16 AM (ten hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

and business is good!

Speaking of good lyrics, I'll always plug Butterfly 3000. Stu's "blown away by first child" stuff on that record is so good.

i've been going back to phantom island after a several-month break and i honestly can't believe it sounds even better than when i was first obsessed with it last summer. what a beautiful record. i really think it's their high watermark and i'm legit excited to see what they do next.

the lyrics on "silent spring" ... man, that's some tibetan book of the dead level stuff. it's such a warm, friendly and thick record. why do i find myself crying through half of it?

something personal i can share about this record is that though i'm not a father, and i don't think i'll ever have kids, i've had my own particular and strong experience of fatherhood. and this record kind of came along right when i was missing someone who is a son to me. i think that's probably why i still cry at half of it.

Your love affair with Phantom Island last year was one of my favourite ILX experiences tbh

Yeah, I've never focused too much on the details of that record, but I've got a road trip today and I know what I'm playing.

i've been going back to phantom island after a several-month break and i honestly can't believe it sounds even better than when i was first obsessed with it last summer. what a beautiful record. i really think it's their high watermark and i'm legit excited to see what they do next.

― map, Sunday, February 8, 2026 6:38 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

same here, funny how a lot of the fanbase is reacting to these last few records like "well at least we have that insane run from 2017 to 2022" whereas I think they may actually be peaking *now*

I still have a lot of their old records to check out though

always feel "a lot of the fanbase" in sitches like this is just a vocal minority. People were going bonkers when they played the RAH. Also, feel Gizz albums are like GBV songs - you don't like this one? Another one will be along in a couple of minutes.

though it's been a while for them at this point. i assume we'll get a new one this year.

no gold can stay

Did end up listening to "Phantom Island" a couple of times today. For some reason these listens brought Yes to mind, but also (more typical) a bit of Zappa (if Zappa were sincere in his pastiche). Maybe a couple too many songs about flying high or getting high or turning into a fish and leaping high or whatever, but it's all in good fun. Oh, I also for the first time thought of Super Furry Animals when listening to this band.

Well, hey, they know the direction they want to go. Some things are worth repeating.