King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
On June 17, 2022, the sweat-soaked members of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard closed out their midnight Bonnaroo set with a 13-minute rendition of “The Dripping Tap,” which opens their then-new double album Omnium Gatherum. After the final strum dissolved into feedback, frontman Stu Mackenzie and guitarist Joey Walker shouted several breathy thank-yous and bye-byes into microphones doused in fuzz and echo.
You can hear all this for yourself on Live at Bonnaroo ’22, the album they released of the set. On their second visit to The Farm, following up a ferocious debut in 2015, the Aussie psych-rock six-piece cemented themselves as the new apex predator of Bonnaroo performers. This year, the band returns to Manchester for a new challenge: the inaugural ’Roo Residency. Bonnaroovians will be treated to three opportunities to catch King Gizz, with one two-hour set apiece on Friday and Saturday at This Tent and a one-hour slot Sunday evening on Which Stage.
Stakes are high and rest is limited for the band in the days leading up to the festival. On June 10, just days before their weekend-long ’Roo trip commences, they’ll play the final show of their European residency series — a run of three-night stands over about a month in cities across the continent — in Bulgaria. Bassist Lucas Harwood explains that their plans for the time in between are, quite literally, up in the air.
“I think it’s literally, like, three flights in a very short period of time,” Harwood tells the Scene on a call from home in Australia ahead of the tour. “There’s no easy way to get from Bulgaria to Manchester. … It seems kind of random — not really on the way home for us. But [we] want to come back to Bonnaroo and do something special.”
Friday at Bonnaroo included memorable returns from alums like King Gizzard, outstanding sets from newcomers like Isaiah Rashad and more
The first show of their ’Roo Residency coincides with the release of their 27th studio album, the orchestra-driven Phantom Island.
“That’ll be interesting,” quips Harwood, referring to the hectic schedule for release day. “We’ll have to make sure we’ve scheduled our social posts.”
King Gizz thrives on go-with-the-flow methodology, and Harwood says the sextet will likely be fleshing out their plans for the weekend’s sets until they arrive on The Farm. Despite the timing, he doesn’t expect Phantom Island songs to make much of an appearance — the orchestral arrangements are integral to them, and Harwood notes that live performances would be incomplete without the full ensembles that they’ll share the stage with on their summer U.S. tour. The group does hope to incorporate the table full of synths and other electronic gear they’ve been using in the experimental rave sets that followed their 2023 record The Silver Cord. Still, they’re planning to focus primarily on what develops during the European residency to guide their Bonnaroo gigs.
“I think that’s what we’re waiting for, you know?” says Harwood. “We’re not 100 percent sure what we’re gonna do yet, but that keeps it interesting for us and the fans as well. It makes it a cool surprise.”
Harwood and the rest of the group are also anticipating the time they won’t be onstage. He hopes to make his way off The Farm for a bit to scope out skate parks in the vicinity. Australia’s own Dom Dolla and Royel Otis are among his personal must-sees during the festival, along with U.S. rock aces The Lemon Twigs and Mannequin Pussy; luckily, it won’t be hard to catch any of them, since King Gizzard’s schedule lines up just right.
And just as importantly with a wide-ranging festival like Bonnaroo, Harwood is setting aside hours for just “getting lost” amid the churning bustle that spreads out over the site’s 700-plus acres.
The who, what, where, when and why of CMA Fest and Bonnaroo 2025
