Though their last show in Nashville proper was back in 2017 (they’ve played nearby fests like Bonnaroo more recently), acclaimed Australian rockers King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard have released a jaw-dropping 15 albums in the time since, hopping genres from psych rock to metal to blues to electropop and everything in between. One of the most captivating and unrivaled live bands making music today, they’ll make their long-awaited return to Music City tonight, Aug. 31 at Ascend Amphitheater along with buzzy, breakout New York post-punks Geese– a band who mirror King Gizzard’s genre-bending spirit. Easily one of our most-anticipated live shows of the summer, a handful of tickets still remain right here. Get ’em while they last!
With an impressive 26 albums to their name in just 12 years, few popular bands have ever been as prolific as Australian psych-rock genre benders King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, who, literally, might have half a dozen new records out between each time we check in. Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, King Gizz started in 2010 as an informal outlet to jam between friends, and cemented their lineup with seven multi-instrumentalists, getting more serious with a series of early, independently released records and EPs which swiftly earned the group attention in Australia and online, and earned interest from labels ahead of subsequent efforts. Though they’ve most frequently and predominately made psychedelic rock and pop, King Gizz are known for regular musical experimentation, and across their vast catalog have explored surf rock, garage rock, jazz, prog rock, folk, thrash metal, doom metal, acid rock, indie rock, dream pop, electropop, and more, most recently adopting something of a blues rock bent on their latest, this year’s Flight b741. Although swift in their output, they’re also very thoughtful and meticulous, giving nearly every release a unique and cohesive thematic concept to match its diverse and broad musicality. After several years of generating acclaim (and even launching their own music fest in Australia), 2017 was perhaps the band’s most pivotal year, featuring a stunning five full-lengths (including one released into the public domain) and universal critical accolades, helping propel them to one of modern psychedelia’s most popular acts, in league with experimental greats like Frank Zappa or modern peers like The Flaming Lips. Experimenting not just in sound, but in release mediums, visuals, and in literally how a band can operate in the modern era, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard have been one of the most fascinating (and triumphant) acts to watch over the last decade, and their live show is never anything short of mesmerizing.
A perfectly matched opener and of the hippest young bands to emerge from New York this decade, frenetic post-punk outfit Geese met and began making music in 2016, while high school freshmen. Their early years were your typical teen band story (albeit as native New Yorkers rather than suburbanites), practicing in their drummer’s basement, recording demos, and playing only small and under the radar performances. They had initially planned to disband in 2020, upon graduation, with several members getting accepted to prestigious colleges around the nation, but after dropping some demos online, they were surprised to be met with near-instant buzz, prompting interest from multiple taste-making indie labels, and ultimately landing them a deal with Partisan Records, putting school on pause to pursue music more seriously. The young band’s debut LP, Projector, arrived in 2021, largely the product of those basement recording sessions from 2019 and 2020, attracting buzz online and from the trendy side of music media, comparing the group’s expansive post-punk style to everyone from Television to The Strokes to Parquet Courts to Radiohead (a diverse range that shows just how eclectic their sound is). Their buzz would grow as would the size of their performances, but not content to simply rest on expectations, the rockers ramped up their live show to be more unpredictable and propulsive, and radically revamped their style with 2023 sophomore album 3D Country (and subsequent companion EP 4D Country), building on the foundation of their debut but funneling it through elements of country, blues, prog rock, jazz, and psychedelia; sweeping and inhibited and oddball, sounding like a whole different band from track to track. The reception was again rapturous, positioning Geese- barely in their 20s- as one of the most interesting new bands in rock, and opening up the possibility of going absolutely anywhere with future releases, much like King Gizz.
King Gizzard & the Lizard and Geese will perform tonight, Aug. 31 at Ascend Amphitheater. The show is all ages, begins at 8 p.m., and tickets are available here.
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