“As the weirdo swarm grows, we have to work hard to keep our community inclusive,” a message read on Forest Hills Stadium’s stage LED screen just before the start of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard‘s second of two nights there. “The mosh pit is a safe place for young, old, big, small and ppl of all genders. If you see any dickheads, alert security. Look after each other in there and BE YOURSELF. We love you all.”
It has been a long time since I’ve seen King Gizzard live, probably at least seven years / 15 albums ago, and that was back when the Australian band were still getting compared to the Oh Sees a lot. To say they’ve mutated and grown a lot since then is an understatement, having released proggy albums made with microtonal instruments, thrash records, an all-synth LP, forays into jazz and more, all while becoming a massively popular live band. Their two shows at Forest Hills were special three-hour marathon sets with no repeated songs between the two nights, which showed off the breadth of their wide-ranging discography.
And the Weirdo Swarm is real. A pit formed almost immediately on Saturday and never really let up, a mass that was more whirlpool than circle pit and also featured theatrics and…choreography. At one point, during “Motor Spirit,” the swarm turned into a viking fleet with dozens of fans rowing. It was as much a spectacle as what was on stage.
While I have listened to just about every King Gizzard record (26 albums in 12 years, the most recent being Flight b741), I am by no means an expert, and will admit I only recognized a few songs Saturday night. Opening with bandleader Stu Mackenzie on flute, the first third of the night felt like one giant, unending jam where songs ran into one another, songs were teased within other songs, and things didn’t let up for 45 minutes. There was also an extended heavy/thrash set (lots of PetroDragonic Apocalypse), and more. The crowd was there for all of it and never let the drizzly weather slow them down.
NYC band Geese (which I continue to confuse with Goose) opened both Forest Hills shows and definitely had fans there on Saturday. Check out photos from Night 1 by Sachyn Mital, plus setlists and full video for both Forest Hills shows, below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEVg0lG0N7g
SETLIST: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard @ Forest Hills Stadium 8/16/20124
Field of Vision
Daily Blues
Cut Throat Boogie
Gamma Knife
People-Vultures
Mr. Beat
Boogieman Sam
Work This Time
I’m in Your Mind
I’m Not in Your Mind
Cellophane
I’m in Your Mind Fuzz
This Thing
Self-Immolate
Organ Farmer
Venusian 2
Gila Monster
Flamethrower
Straws in the Wind
Pleura
All Is Known
Doom City
Nuclear Fusion
Rattlesnake
K.G.L.W.
SETLIST: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard @ Forest Hills Stadium 8/17/20124
Hot Water
Robot Stop
Ice V
The Bitter Boogie
Antarctica
Raw Feel
You Can Be Your Silhouette
Le Risque
Hot Wax
Planet B
Converge
Witchcraft
Dragon
The Great Chain of Being
Motor Spirit
Slow Jam 1
Billabong Valley
Automation
Digital Black
Han-Tyumi the Confused Cyborg
Soy‐Protein Munt Machine
Vomit Coffin
Murder of the Universe
Am I in Heaven?