Aussie grindcore legends King Parrot return to Auckland

Aussie grindcore legends King Parrot made their long awaited return to Aotearoa last night, with a blistering performance at Auckland’s Whammy Bar, joined by local supports Malevolence and Just One Fix. The Metal Bar’s Riccardo offers a unique perspective on the show, as singer of Just One Fix. All photos by Mark Derricutt / Chalice…

July 19, 2026

“I’ve had an absolute c*nt of day” … the refrain from the Kevin “Bloody” Wilson song is what welcomes Australian grindcore larrikins onto the stage at Auckland’s Whammy Bar for their final show of a long awaited New Zealand tour.

I, on the other hand, had had a great day and it was only getting better!!

I’d smashed a cheese toastie from the White Lady, sunk an IPA and played a set with my band Just One Fix as an opening act for the aforementioned Australian band and now? Now I was the impromptu lighting tech for the band!

For the uninitiated, King Parrot have been a standout on the Australian scene since their debut release, The Stench of Hardcore Pub Trash was unleashed in 2011. They’ve gone on to release four full length albums (this tour is to promote the latest ‘A Young Persons Guide to …’) and impress Eyehategod guitarist Jimmy Bower enough for him to recommend Phil Anselmo sign them to his Housecore Records label.

Tours with the likes of Pantera, Superjoint Ritual, Obituary, Carcass and Soulfly across Europe and North America have followed and now that larrikin spirit was in Auckland and about to put a size 10 Chuck Taylor right up the arse of everyone in attendance.

King Parrot are equal parts metal, hardcore and comedy and their set had you banging your head one minute and rinsing yourself the next.

Song titles like Piss Wreck, Shit On A Liver and Fuck You and the Horse You Rode In On give you an idea of what I’m talking about but there’s way more to this band funny lyrics and song titles.

Drummer Max Dangerfield is immense, just sitting through him sound checking the kit was jaw dropping and the way he and Slatts on bass lock in is like a hand in a glove. Slatts also gives off ‘frontman trapped in a bass player’s body’ vibes hard as well. Lots of one liners, screams and interjections, swapping lines with vocalist Matt ‘Youngie’ Young create a comedy duo who rip the piss out of the audience at any given opportunity. Guitarists Ari and Squizzy wall of buzzfeed distortion drives the King Parrot sound and the five pieces coming together smash you in the face with no apologies.

King Parrot have a lot of different ways to hurt you, there’s the grindcore blast and double kick action you expect but at times there’s a real sludge element as well, like Sabbath but like really stoned and just as you hit the groove – bam they’re back ripping your face off.

The Whammy crowd was up for the slammin’ and the heckling in equal measure and it wasn’t long before the crowd surfing and stage diving kicked into full gear with Youngie upside down walking on the ceiling and being carried around the venue by the seething mass of a pit.

It was sweaty, it was loud, it was hairy and it was a hell of a lot of fun – hopefully King Parrot are back sooner rather than later and they bring a lighting guy too!

Gotta say wow to Malevolence as well – they set the stage for the night with a filthy set of industrial tinged blackened death metal – quality set from legends of the scene who have been doing this thing for longer than some of the guys in the pit have been wiping their own arses.