King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Return to Australia with Orchestra Shows at Sydney Opera House
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, photo by Maclay Heriot
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard returned to Australia this week to set off the final leg of a sprawling 2025 World Tour. After their surprise rave set in October marked their first hometown show since 2023, the genre-obliterating psych septet set off a seven-show bell-lap Down Under with two nights at the prestigious Sydney Opera House. To summon all the grandeur these appearances warranted, the band welcomed support from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for two special orchestral performances.
King Gizzard began their first orchestral performance on Tuesday, Dec. 2, with “Phantom Island,” the intro and title track from their 27th studio album. A full company of Australia’s finest strings, horns and woodwinds accented swells of emotion as the band flew through the full tracklist from their latest release, stopping by standouts like “Deadstick,” “Lonely Cosmos,” “Aerodynamic” and “Sea of Doubt” before rising to a transcendent peak with “Grow Wings and Fly.”
The project’s closing track transitioned seamlessly into the 2022 Laminated Denim standout “Hypertension,” which peeled back to the core band for a heavy space-age jam. In keeping with the orchestral format that’s graced stages around the world since June, the group closed the show with six further classics from their catalog: “The River” (with nods to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck”), “Crumbling Castle,” “The Thing,” “Mars for the Rich,” “Dragon” and “Iron Lung.” Wednesday’s follow-up show proceeded from the same meticulously rehearsed setlist, save for a portion of 2024’s Flight b741 track “Daily Blues” in the intermission jam, an orchestral birthday song for bassist Lucas Harwood, and a fistful of lyric changes throughout that signaled the band’s excitement.
King Gizzard performed again today, Dec. 4, with a classic rock show at Sydney’s NSW. They’ll deliver four more performances in Brisbane and Melbourne through a grand finale at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Dec. 13. Find tickets and more information on the band’s 2026 tour itinerary, including the newly announced return of their Field of Vision festival, at kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com.
Get an inside look at King Gizzard’s Sydney Opera House shows in the fan-recorded videos and stream bootlegs below. Find the full setlists here.
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