King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
Liverpool Olympia

OPENING with a breathtaking suite ripped from their critically acclaimed 2016 album Nonagon Infinity, the band sweated its way through a set of high-octane improvised psychedelic jams, microtones and thrash-metal head-bangers, making the most of every second of their two-hour set.

The Nonagon suite was followed by the debut of the as-yet unreleased Raw Feel, one of the new songs from their upcoming 26th (yes, 26th!) album.

The prodigious Melbourne multi-instrumentalists were greeted with an almighty cheer at the sight of frontman Stu Mackenzie’s “Flying Microtonal Banana” guitar, modified with frets allowing musical exploration beyond the Western 12-note scale.

An even bigger cheer was given to Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s “free Palestine” chant, eagerly taken up across the auditorium as he donned a keffiyeh passed to him by an audience member.

Kenny-Smith is as at home blowing sax as he is on keys, synths or harmonica, or taking his turn on lead vocals. And it is a mark of the band’s all-round virtuosity that Joey Walker seamlessly took over lead-guitar duties when Mackenzie’s amp blew during the anthemic Dripping Tap.

In the faded Victorian surroundings of the Olympia theatre, a steady stream of crowd-surfers was passed over a good-natured mosh pit as the band relentlessly upped the pace towards their heavier numbers.

It was during their microtonal segment that KGLW invited a delighted fan onstage to perform the growled intro to Nuclear Fusion, as is now traditional when the song is performed live.

Like much of their microtonal work, the song tips its hat to Middle Eastern folk music, yet is suffused with a driving rhythm section. Cook Craig’s guitar, Lucas Harwood’s bass and Michael Cavanagh’s drums lend a feel akin to the “Krautrock” influence pervading much of their wider repertoire.

With Perihelion, Predator X, Dragon and Gila Monster, KGLW – winners of the inaugural Environmental Music Prize in 2022 – showed their commitment to environmental issues, describing the damage to the planet wrought by capitalism.

With such a huge body of work to choose from, you never know what songs will be played at a King Gizzard concert – but then again, neither does the band.

On tour in the UK until May 31. For more information see: kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com