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

It’s amazing how much one album can boost your following. That’s taking nothing away from King Gizz’s previous work, but when they played the Rosie in March this year, there was more than a third less of an audience watching.

This time around, they came to within a handful of people of selling out the venue, with a sold-out show at Mojo’s taking place the next night. Hideous Sun Demon kicked off proceedings and drew people from the bar to the stage area. Even with a band member missing, they continue to amaze with their wonderfully theatrical blend of psychedelic punk-rock. The Rosemount Hotel might just be their ideal venue too; their surging guitar riffs sounded glorious through those mounted speakers on either side of the stage. They certainly earned a bunch of new fans with that set.

The Babe Rainbow opened their set to a packed venue, easing the tempo with a very cool ‘70s psych-surf vibe, and dressing the part to boot. Donning a set of shades, drummer/vocalist The Hothouse Flower had the audience swooning and swaying with some delightfully sunny melodies, assisted by the two guitarists in front. There was an extra cheer when King Gizz frontman Stu Mackenzie joined the trio on stage for some flute playing in the last track, but that aside, it was quite a relaxed set, the audience chattering away between and often during the songs, enjoying the vibe but not really providing the band with their full attention. Not that those on stage seemed to mind; it was all part of their chilled vibe. They put on a good show regardless.

The room was heaving by the time King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard took to the stage, and it was party time from the get-go, as the seven-piece immediately launched into I’m In Your Mind. Fans jumped around and relished what turned into an almost 20-minute jam, as the band seamlessly worked through that track, plus the next four tracks from their new record – I’m Not In Your Mind, Cellophane, I’m In Your Mind Fuzz and Empty – the last track providing a much needed chill-out after some insanely heated moshing and occasional crowd-surfing. Hot Water saw Mackenzie bust out some mad flute jams once again, while Am I In Heaven? kicked off things all over again through the midsection.

They played a bunch of favourites from their other albums after that, including Vegemite and Hot Wax, before finishing off with 16-minute epic, Head On/Pill, which they still managed to stretch out for over 20 minutes. Having seen the band play Perth three times this year, this scribe can assure you this was their best show yet. Come back soon, guys!