Live Review: Gizzfest 2

The Rosemount Hotel and Four5Nine Bar were packed out early for the second night of GIZZFEST featuring Melbourne seven-piece King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and a festival-sized bill of local talent.

Sam Atkin kicked the night off with a great acoustic set at Four5Nine while Psychedelic Porn Crumpets tore it up on the main stage as the crowd gathered. Five-piece rock outfit Mugwump followed with a fast-paced set that started with the rich psychedelic sounds of Hogwash as well as Fantastic Planet and Lazy Bones. One satisfied fan shouted, “You guys fucking rock!” before the band finished their set with a brand new song titled Uterus that got a great response from the now-packed venue.

As Laurel Fixation kept the crowd entertained over at Four5Nine, pop-rock six-piece Dream Rimmy started their set playing to a small but dedicated crowd that grew as that set went on, enticed by tracks like Watching Nothing and Weather. Their set ended with long, heavy versions of Shy and Waves, featuring great guitar work from Benny Trouchet and Lee Napper.

Garage surf pop act Gunns followed on at the main stage, starting with Pigeons In The Pond and Even If The Sun Goes Down before playing new track, Vera. The band prefaced Pulling By The Hair as being a song about “those fuckheads in Syria trying to kill everyone” before closing out their set with great versions of The Fool and Live By The Sea. Doctopus occupied the Four5Nine stage to deliver a thrashing punk rock set before Aborted Tortoise took to the stage for a headline set that packed in a dozen rapid-fire tracks while the crowd moshed in front of the small stage. 

Shortly after 11 o’clock, the packed Rosemount venue let out a huge cheer as King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard finally arrived on stage to cap off their last night in Perth. Beginning with Cellophane, the band was in fine form with Ambrose Kenny-Smith wailing on the harmonica while drummer Eric Moore and bassist Lucas Skinner held down a steady, unrelenting rhythm that whipped the crowd into a frenzy early on. Vocalist Stu McKenzie switched to flute for Hot Water, with the crowd chanting out the words as the band played on before they followed with well-received versions of new track The River and Muckraker. The band closed out the show with an extended jam on Head On/Pill, the crowd moshing, stage-diving and basically going nuts as the song and the festival came to a chaotic, successful conclusion.