Dreams came true for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard on Friday night in Colorado. Forget hosting their inaugural curated festival on U.S. soil: the first evening of Field of Vision came to a climax with founding Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra coming out to join King Gizzard on punk classic, “Police Truck”.

“The Dead Kennedys were so influential on us when we were starting out,” guitarist Joey Walker said as the band got in tune at the end of their first of three nightly performances at Field of Vision. “Just go back and listen to what we sounded like; we sounded exactly like our friend Jello.”

Multi-instrumentalist Ambrose-Kenny Smith even specifically pointed to their early song “Trench Foot” (found on the Teenage Gizzard bootleg), which is ingrained with the Dead Kennedys’ surf-punk DNA. It turns out that King Gizzard tried to have an even closer relationship with Dead Kennedys, applying to open for them in Melbourne, Australia, back in the day. Unfortunately—as Ambrose decided to recount in front of thousands of fans and Jello himself—the band declined, ignoring the then-burgeoning Gizzard’s email entirely. However this wasn’t Jello’s fault, as he co-founded the band in 1978, left when it broke up in 1986, and has not participated in the lineup that reunited in 2001, going so far as to call the band Gizzard applied to open for the “Phony Kennedys” onstage on Friday.

Fast forward however many years, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard were onstage with real Dead Kennedys singer Jello. While Gizzard may bear little resemblance to the hardcore punk community that Dead Kennedys are most closely associated with, the spastic surf rock that defined KGLW’s early records makes the group as much a Dead Kennedys relative as Agent Orange is. What transpired onstage Friday was probably one of the more jammed-out versions of “Police Truck” that Jello has ever helmed, but the punk-rock peepaw appeared to thoroughly enjoy himself as he conducted the band and commanded solos.

As if the moment was big enough for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Jello ended the sit-in by introducing them all and saying, “This is a great f–ing moment in my life. This is my favorite band in the world.”

Related: Billy Strings Teases King Gizzard’s “Rattlesnake” In Front Of The Band In Melbourne [Watch]

Watch Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra sit in with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard at Field of Vision in Buena Vista, CO and check out some photos from day one by Christian Stewart. The band is streaming the festival for free all weekend long on YouTube.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Jello Biafra — “Police Truck” (Dead Kennedys) — 8/15/25

[Video: Boogleg Gila]

Setlist: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Field Of Vision | Buena Vista, CO | 8/15/25

Set:  Gamma Knife > People-Vultures > Mr. Beat -> Field of Vision, Antarctica, Nuclear Fusion, Oddlife[1], Intrasport, Superposition -> Kepler-22b > Gilgamesh > Extinction, I’m In Your Mind > I’m Not In Your Mind > Cellophane > I’m In Your Mind Fuzz, Inner Cell > Loyalty > Horology, Venusian 2, Converge > Witchcraft, Gaia[2], Police Truck (Dead Kennedys)[3], Evil Death Roll[4]

[1] Paused in the middle due to medical emergency in crowd
[2] with drum solo
[3] first time played; with Jello Biafra
[4] with intro jam

Show Notes: During The Songs For Kids Band!’s set, Stu, Lucas, and Cavs joined the band for a cover of Flight b741. Before the band’s set, Roberto Borrero gave a land acknowledgment to the Ute people and performed a Native American song for the audience. Gamma Knife contained a Motor Spirit tease. Mr. Beat contained Money For Nothing (Dire Straits) and People-Vultures teases. A fan named Dog was brought on to do the Nuclear Fusion intro. Oddlife was stopped midway through for a medical emergency. Following Intrasport, Joey said he felt like Liam Gallagher of Oasis (as he doesn’t play his guitar, and has a tambourine during live performances). Following Extinction, the band shouted out White Fence and talked about their 2014 tour with the band. I’m Not In Your Mind contained an Extinction tease. Cellophane contained a What If (The Murlocs) tease from Ambrose. Inner Cell was introduced as a song about dictators and how they’re losers. Loyalty contained a Horology tease. Venusian 2 was introduced as a song about “going to Venus and setting yourself on fire”. After Venusian 2, the band thanked Cavs for playing at a high altitude for 3 hours, with Ambrose saying to get him some oxygen and jellybeans. Before Gaia, which contained a drum solo, the band shouted out Gaspard, the band’s sound tech, who brought them tequila shots. Gaia contained Am I In Heaven? and Magma teases. Before Police Truck, which was performed with Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra, Stu said the Dead Kennedys were a huge inspiration on their early material (especially Trench Foot), and told a story about how they applied to open for the band (who Jello called the ‘phony Kennedys’) in Melbourne, but were declined. The performance featured a Robot Stop tease. Following the song, Stu said “Free Palestine and Fuck the Police!” During Evil Death Roll, which was not on the printed setlist and contained Field of Vision quotes and an Iron Lung jam with lyrics, Ambrose directed the crowd to sit down during the slower quiet section (and subsequent Iron Lung jam) and jump up when the song kicked back in. At the end of the show, Joey said Free Palestine.