King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard put together to tackle the Hollywood Bowl – Orange County Register

In 2014, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard‘s first worldwide tour included the Australian band rock band rapidly navigating its method by way of America for the primary time. They performed dive bars for an viewers of typically 20 folks or much less and scrolled for offers on Craigslist for secondhand amps.

“Issues have modified drastically,” mentioned bassist Lucas Harwood on a latest video conferencing name.

On the time of our interview, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard had been getting ready for exhibits in Tennessee. The group has been out on its USA Residency Tour, and in contrast to its early excursions within the states, this time round they’re in a position to carry their households alongside and soak within the surroundings by staying in small cozy cabins within the woods close to a lake. The North American leg of this tour ends with a marathon three-hour set on the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on June 21.

“It’s tremendous stunning, very inexperienced and plush,” Harwood mentioned of his present spot. “It’s good, and this complete tour is a bit completely different like that as a result of we’re in every metropolis for a number of nights, and we get to arrange base, and we’re not always shifting. We’ve solely performed one present, but it surely already feels very completely different from our standard touring type.”

The distinction between how the band toured then and now’s emblematic of how far the band has come from its early D.I.Y. touring years to topping occasion lineups. Final yr, the group began their fall tour with a headlining efficiency at Desert Daze, America’s most outstanding psychedelic rock competition in Perris.

That tour marked a milestone for the band, who carried out on the largest North American venues of their profession, which included a present on the 9,500-capacity Purple Rocks Amphitheatre simply exterior Denver, Colorado. On this run, the band sold-out a trio of exhibits (two within the night and one early present) at Purple Rocks, on of which was a particular prolonged efficiency because the band delivered a three-hour marathon set with jam classes, deeper cuts and a playful intermission. Their subsequent three-hour marathon present, their largest in America thus far, would be the 17,500-capacity Hollywood Bowl gig.

For many musicians, performing for 3 hours can really feel like an uphill battle, however for King Gizzard, it’s a pure match for a band that’s developed from improvisational jamming to setlists constructed with a singular precision that avoids repeating the identical songs from previous performances.

“One factor we seen fairly early on within the States, a sort of cultural factor right here, was that there was a small group of followers that had been mainly following us across the nation and touring to a number of exhibits,” Harwood mentioned. “We felt unhealthy that we had been enjoying the identical songs each evening to the extent that we thought we owed them a bit extra in return for his or her dedication. However, additionally to assist stimulate us as a result of should you play the identical set each evening, it does begin to get monotonous and also you sort of begin to drift off a bit bit as a result of you may simply play by muscle reminiscence.”