Live Review: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Babe Rainbow

The Babe Rainbow, resplendent in op shop threads that celebrate the fashion of yesteryear, let loose an explosion of feel-good, flower-power rock that comes with all the retro trappings of the ‘60s. 

They deliver a scintillating mix of surf rock and paisley pop in a way that brings to mind acts like The Monkees, but a raw, garage undercurrent gives The Babe Rainbow a very definite edge. Drummer/vocalist Angus Dowling, in a glittering silver Amii Stewart-style disco hat with tassels, steals our attention. At the same time it’s kind of hard to ignore the delicious fuzz and wah that has been applied to Kool Breeze’s lead guitar. Delightful tunes such as Secret Enchanted Broccoli Forest and Love Forever put smiles on everyone’s faces as they get their groove on.

The room starts to pack out as we watch King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard set up their gear. There is a whole lot of anticipation in the room as ‘The Gizzards’, who are now getting plenty of attention in the States, get ready to showcase their fifth album I’m In Your Mind Fuzz. The truth is that a couple of drummers, three guitarists, bass, harmonica and a whole lot more besides all add up to one hell of a noise, which very quickly goes to the heads of excitable fans. After just a couple of songs, the usually sedate surrounds of Howler bandroom becomes a balls-out moshpit.

We end up in a dense pile up of bodies – sandwiched between a muscular young man who seems happy to be watching the gig bent over a monitor on the stage as we are pressed against him by another who’s trying to pogo — which feels totally awkward. A few kicks to the head from one of the many crowd surfers complete what has become a thoroughly visceral experience. These days, it’s rare to see such wild, explosive energy at a gig.

The band does an excellent job of fuzzing everyone’s minds. Every crazed guitar solo has the crowd surging enthusiastically forward. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard always sound great live and tonight is no exception. As the set progresses, it becomes evident that they have evolved beyond the faithfully retro, psych thing to embrace a much harder rock stance that comes with flourishes of glam but it is a more aggressive take on Suede than the old T Rex boogie.

This is one crazy blur of a gig and just when you least expect it Stu Mackenzie whips out a flute and deals a solo that leaves us feeling like it might have been an aural hallucination. It feels like it’s 50 degrees in the room. Bottles of cold water are thrown out to the crowd, but that doesn’t stop the sweat flowing from every pore. On a garage tip Am I In Heaven? brings to mind Thee Oh Sees and it’s one of the evening’s many highlights. The crowd has been requesting Footy Footy all night and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard oblige as they bring down a blistering evening of high voltage rock’n’roll.