King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard at Summerstage at Rumsey Playfield

Seven musicians started off as a group of friends jamming together in 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. Lead vocalist Stu Mackenzie wanted to call the band Gizzard Gizzard. Another band member wanted Lizard King, the nickname of Jim Morrison of the Doors. They compromised with King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. The band consists of Stu Mackenzie (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, flute), Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, harmonica, keyboards), Cook Craig (guitar, bass, vocals), Joey Walker (guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals), Lucas Skinner (bass, keyboards), Michael Cavanagh (drums, percussion), and Eric Moore (drums, percussion, management). The band is known for its energetic live shows and prolific recording output. In 2017, the band fulfilled a promise to release five studio albums within the year. The band released its 15th and most recent album, Infest the Rats' Nest, on August 16, 2019; it was the band's second album in 2019.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard is a puzzling band. The psychedelic rock band released a rather chill album in April, followed by a thrash metal album four months later. The band's performance tonight at SummerStage in Central Park featured a similarly diverse variety of sounds. Many songs seemed rather experimental, changing gears with the introduction of a new instrument or a change of rhythm before igniting into a burning furnace seemingly ready to explode. The band played no simple songs; the paradox was that even the lighter, poppier songs often evolved into a complex arrangement, with individual musicians offering something to throw a melody or a time signature off the main frame. The band's rallying moments, however, were in the boisterous, high energy stingers, with their thick grooves and dark bass lines generating mosh pits and crowd surfing. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's set was expansive and eclectic, defying musical predictability but guaranteeing a raucous party spirit.

Setlist:

1. Self-Immolate
2. Perihelion
3. The Great Chain of Being
4. Plastic Boogie
5. Inner Cell
6. Loyalty
7. Horology
8. Boogieman Sam
9. Evil Death Roll
10. Digital Black
11. Vomit Coffin
12. Murder of the Universe
13. This Thing
14. The Bird Song
15. Planet B
16. Mars for the Rich
17. Cyboogie
18. Medley: Am I in Heaven? > Altered Beast > Rattlesnake > Boogieman Sam > Cellophane