Photos and Recap by Max Stewart

Australia’s King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard had a thunderous few nights at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, performing a total of three sets over a two-day span (which included an all-day event with an afternoon and evening show). They did so as part of a full residency tour that included stints in The Caverns in Tennessee, The Salt Shed in Chicago, and Carnation Farms in Washington State.

If any band was poised to do a long-haul residency, it is King Gizz. This band is ascending at an astronomical pace, as they have somehow managed to bridge the stylings of psych indie rock, metal and jam. At Red Rocks, shirts of the bands Phish, Billy Strings, Wilco, Motörhead, Rush, and Slayer were all spotted. And somehow, the fan bases can all comingle in harmony. It is all thanks to this band’s sweet Aussie sound.

Their catalog and performances defy classification, and they seem to constantly be releasing new material and feeding the fans with new music. One second you are deep in a thrash metal tune, and the next you are in the clouds in a psychedelic jam. Each album provides further improvisation and more opportunity to continue weaving across the many genre landscapes in their vast catalog. Their final set and Thursday evening show at Red Rocks proved no different, as they managed to wait out a thunderstorm and highlight the heavy new album, PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation.

There is certainly some tongue-in-cheek feel to some of what they are doing, but this music is no joke. These guys can bend and weave through so many sonic realms and they remain a vibrant and must-see live spectacle.