King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard + Colorado Symphony Impress In Colorado Springs
Read a review and check out video from KGLW’s orchestra concert at Ford Amphitheater.
By Nate Todd Aug 11, 2025 • 10:51 am PDT
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard brought their Phantom Island orchestra show to the new Colorado Springs venue Ford Amphitheater on Friday. Teaming with the Colorado Symphony conducted by Sarah Hicks, the Australian rockers presented their latest studio album in full with the orchestra, who stuck around for stunning renditions of classics “The River,” “Crumbling Castle” and more.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s symphony shows are another step in the evolution of a band that seems to be able to pull off whatever they want musically, due largely to the sextet’s compulsion to create and work ethic. Phantom Island, the band’s 27th studio album since releasing their first in 2012, arrived on June 13.
The initial tracks were captured in the same sessions as King Gizz’s previous album, Flight b741. If b741 was the band’s rowdy foray through Earth’s atmosphere, Phantom Island is a trip through liminal spaces, sometimes otherworldly but always human, enhanced by the orchestral backing.
The Phantom Island studio orchestra tracks were arranged by conductor and pianist Chad Kelly. As King Gizzard has toured North America, various local symphonies have taken over including The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, National Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Philharmonic.
King Gizzard’s orchestral outing in Colorado Springs with the Colorado Symphony conducted by Sarah Hicks went down on Friday at Ford Amphitheater. Walking up to the venue as the sun disappeared behind the majestic portion of the Front Range near Colorado Springs, it was clear why the venue was initially named Sunset Amphitheater.
The inside of the venue is impressive as well with a lawn area, a seated pit area that seems to have plenty of room and even fire suites, something the band would remark upon during the concert, which got underway with Phantom Island‘s horn-featuring title track with vocal parts from guitarist Stu Mackenzie along with multi-instrumentalists Cook Craig and Ambrose Kenny-Smith.
Following the ominous “Phantom Island,” the more musically upbeat, despite the name, “Deadstick” followed, which got the audience at Ford Amphitheater moving. The song’s subject matter shows a clear connection to Flight b741 with both Stu and Amby singing of a pilot and flying, while guitarist Joey Walker shines on his vocal section tying it back to the new album with the line “a phantom is taking everything.”
It isn’t a stretch to see Flight b741 and Phantom Island as a double album, almost a la The Rolling Stones' Exile On Main St. The records are deeply intermeshed despite b741 having a rollicking rock sound not unlike Exile, while Phantom Island is a bit more brooding and melancholy, with that feeling enhanced by the orchestral arrangements.
Phantom’s toggling between a plane that is certain to crash and journeys into space, both outer and inner, is an interesting irony. There are also portions of Phantom Island that break free of the Earth’s atmosphere to dance in the stars including the melancholy tunes “Lonely Cosmos” and “Spacesick.” Both in the studio and live, the string section is featured on “Lonely Cosmos” and “Spacesick.” But the strings on both just hit differently in the live setting.
Also like Flight b741, Phantom Island is a much more collaborative album in terms of songwriting and singing. Cuts such as “Eternal Return” and “Panpsych” feature multiple lead singers including Cookie and bassist Lucas Harwood. The rock aesthetic of b741 is also present on deeper Phantom cuts like the country-rock tinged “Aerodynamic,” the mid-1960s psychedelic rock-infused “Sea of Doubt” and the smooth ’70s vibe of “Silent Spirit,” the latter two of which saw the Colorado Symphony shining once again in the live setting.
Phantom Island comes to a close with “Grow Wings and Fly.” The track was the only Phantom song that had been played previous to the 2025 North American Tour. It’s an interesting tune as it grew out of the Butterfly 3000 cut, “Shanghai.” The orchestra was at the forefront once again for the Phantom swan song and received a raucous applause as they left the stage for a break.
King Gizzard drummer Michael Cavanaugh got the non-Phantom Island portion of the show underway with a rousing drum solo on the nearly 20-minute “Self-Immolate,” off the band’s 2019 metal album, Infest the Rat’s Nest.
The non-Phantom songs skewed to the heavier side, but also saw the return of the Colorado Symphony on the vintage tune, “The River,” which the orchestra added to on Parts I, II and IV. As an adaptation of the jazz classic “Take Five,” “The River” offered a great time for the horns and strings to shine. Ahead of the song, Joey pointed out the moon rising over Ford Amphitheater and mentioned Ozzy Osbourne as well as the fire suites the band could see from the stage.
Another Gizz song with more complicated time signatures, the Polygondwanaland favorite “Crumbling Castle,” came next, also with the symphony, who would stay on for the rest of the set. Joey Walker’s Fishing for Fishies staple, “This Thing,” then arrived at Ford Amp. The sextet went back into thrash mode with “Mars for the Rich” and “Dragon.” The concert came to a close with a well-jammed “Iron Lung,” which saw Stu and Joey showing off their prowess on guitar with tapping techniques and fretboard fireworks aplenty.
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Setlist via (KGLW.net)
Orchestra Set 1: Phantom Island[1], Deadstick[1], Lonely Cosmos[1], Eternal Return[1], Panpsych[1], Spacesick[1], Aerodynamic[1], Sea of Doubt[1], Silent Spirit[1], Grow Wings and Fly[1] -> Self-Immolate[2], The River[3], Crumbling Castle[4], This Thing[1], Mars For the Rich[1], Dragon[1], Iron Lung[1]
Notes:
- [1] with Colorado Symphony
- [2] with drum solo
- [3] Parts I, II, and IV; with Colorado Symphony
- [4] with outro; with Colorado Symphony
Show Notes:
This show was played with The Colorado Symphony conducted by Sarah Hicks. Self-Immolate had Perihelion teases. Before The River Joey pointed out the full moon and mentioned Ozzy Osbourne. The band talked about Field of Vision and its Acid Yoga before Iron Lung.
As KGLW.net noted, ahead of “Iron Lung,” the band mentioned their upcoming Field of Vision festival, which is set for this weekend (August 15 – 17) in Buena Vista, Colorado. Scroll down for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s full tour routing and ticket info.
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