I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: NOVEMBER 7, 2021] The Flaming Lips

I have now seen The Flaming Lips six times.  (It’s hard to believe the last time was three years ago).

I love every show, but after each one I think I don’t need to see them again.  Not because they aren’t great live, but because six or even five times is a lot.

But each time I’m delighted to have gone.

Wayne Coyne is such a generous frontman, but with his energy and with his love for everyone there.  Sure, you come out with a fun spectacle, but you also come out feeling loved and appreciated.  Plus, the first two times were over 20 years ago when they were a very different band.

I actually didn’t love American Head as much as other Flaming Lips albums, but these songs translated live very well.  Plus, with The Flaming Lips, you’re getting a lot more than their music.

Unlike most bands, even watching them set up is fun.  Before the band came out to check their gear, Wayne Coyne came out on stage with his latest toy, a bird with a glowing red heart that flew around the audience.  I believe it was remote controlled, but it was hard to see.  He flew it around the audience, and when it crashed, people handed it back so he could do it again.  (He used it in a song a little later, too).

A few minutes later the band came out and tested all of their gear (so many lights!) while the crew brought out boxes of toys (like confetti cannons).  It’s fun to see their two drummers [“The Brothers Griiin”, Matt Duckworth and Nic Ley] test out their kits (one plays bass during one of the songs and they even switch drums at some point).

The one big big difference this time was that Michael Ivins, long time (and original) bassist was not with them.  He had played with them as recent as their Tiny Desk Concert in October 2000.  This wasn’t mentioned at all, and there was another person (or persons) playing bass as the songs demanded.  The new official bassist is Tommy McKenzie.

Before they started Wayne explained all of the safety precautions that they have taken and that they want to make sure that everyone is doing alright.  So when he asks, he is sincere and wants to make sure that no one is in distress.

Wayne wore a mask to sing a couple of songs, but most of the songs he sang from his bubble.  They replaced the bubble a few times as it steamed up on him.

Even though this is the American Head tour, they opened with a couple of older songs.  In fact, they opened with a song they haven’t played since 2006.

And I was more or less right in front of the amazing Stephen Drozd, so I was able to watch him do all the magic that makes Lips songs what they are.

The one thing you know about a Flaming Lips show is that they have props and they are going to use them.  So yes, the giant inflatable pink robot will appear over Wayne as he sings “Yoshimi.”

Although he did tell us that because of safety precautions, he would not be riding the Unicorn into the audience.  And in fact, they weren’t going to be bouncing balloons out into the crowd to be extra safe and prevent contact from one person to another.

But it was still a celebration, with the inflatable rainbow, giants confetti cannons at the beginning and end of the sow and Wayne’s shooting the mini cannons into the crowd.

Even though there are songs they always play, this set felt really diverse.  With a few songs from Head and several older songs I hadn’t seen live before like Sunship Balloons and All We Have Is Now.  We even had the live debut of the 2006 song “Why Does It End?”

They even busted out “She Don’t Use Jelly” which I haven’t seen them play in a long time.  They also played a bunch of songs from The Soft Bulletin, the album that first got me into them.

So in addition to the familiar, there was even more novelty than usual.  Including opening act Micah Nelson coming out to reprise his guitar solo from “Will You Return / When You Come Down,” which was a fun surprise and certainly a cool moment.

Wayne at some point explained why he likes to say Fuck Yeah so much.  He said that when you like something you say yeah, but there is not more resounding yes than saying Fuck Yeah!  When someone tells you they love you and you reply, you want to say Fuck yeah!

So, despite the balloons prohibition, the band did still make the giant letter balloons that spelled out Fuck Yeah Philadelphia (the city was a bit of a structural challenge for sure).

I’m sure when things are safer, Wayne will come ack out in the crowd (in the bubble and on the unicorn and with whatever other new thing pops into his head).  But even without that, the show was fantastic.

Next to me was a family with a little girl (tween?) and it was really fun to see that she was just as delighted by the spectacle as her adults were.  Perhaps I need to bring my kids next time.  They’ll never see anything like it.

 

Philadelphia (Fillmore) 2021	Bensalem (Parx Casino) 2018	Philadelphia (Fillmore) 2017
My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion ϖ (first time played since 2006)	Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30	Race for the Prize ß
Do You Realize?? ¥	Race for the Prize ß	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 ¥
Dinosaurs on the Mountain ‰	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 ¥	There Should Be Unicorns ⊗
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 ¥	Fight Test ¥	Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung ϖ
Flowers of Neptune 6 ‰	The Star-Spangled Banner	What is the Light? ß
At the Movies on Quaaludes ‰	The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power) ϖ	The Observer ß
She Don’t Use Jelly ≅	There Should Be Unicorns ⊗	How?? ⊗
Silver Trembling Hands ♦	Space Oddity [David Bowie]	Space Oddity [David Bowie]
Will You Return / When You Come Down ‰	How?? ⊗	Feeling Yourself Disintegrate ß
Waitin’ for a Superman ß	Are You a Hypnotist?? ¥	The Castle ⊗
Why Does It End? ϖ (live debut)	The W.A.N.D. ϖ	Are You a Hypnotist ¥
Feeling Yourself Disintegrate ß	Waitin’ for a Superman (piano) ß	The W.A.N.D. ϖ
encore	A Spoonful Weighs a Ton ß	A Spoonful Weighs a Ton ß
Sunship Balloons Σ	encore	The Abandoned Hospital Ship
All We Have Is Now ¥	Do You Realize?? ¥	Waitin’ for a Superman ß
Race for the Prize ß		Do You Realize? ¥

 

Bethlehem MusikFest 2015	New York (Irving Plaza) October 2000	New York (Irving Plaza) April 2000 [based on next show]
The Abandoned Hospital Ship ©	Race for the Prize ß	Race for the Prize ß
Fight Test ¥	The Gash ß	Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now) ζ
She Don’t Use Jelly ≅	The Spark That Bled ß	Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair ζ
Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung ϖ	A Spoonful Weighs a Ton ß	Feeling Yourself Disintegrate ß
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power) ϖ	Lightning Strikes the Postman ©	Sleeping on the Roof ß
Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus With Needles ©	Feeling Yourself Disintegrate ß	She Don’t Use Jelly ≅
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 ¥	Sleeping on the Roof ß	Slow Nerve Action ≅
Feeling Yourself Disintegrate ß	The Spiderbite Song ß	Over the Rainbow (cover)
Vein of Stars ϖ	She Don’t Use Jelly ≅	Lightning Strikes the Postman ©
Butterfly, How Long It Takes to Die Ô	What Is the Light? ß	Waitin’ for a Superman ß
The W.A.N.D. ϖ	Waitin’ for a Superman ß	What is the Light ß
A Spoonful Weighs a Ton ß	When You Smile ©	The Observer ß
encore		When You Smile ©
Do You Realize?? ¥		The Spark That Bled ß

‰ American Head (2020)
⊗ Oczy Mlody (2017)
Ô The Terror (2013)
♦ Embryonic (2009)
ϖ At War with the the Mystics (2006)
Σ Ego Trippin at the Gates of Hell EP (2003)
¥ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
ß The Soft Bulletin (1999)
ζ Zaireeka (1997)
© Clouds Taste Metallic (1995)
≅ Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993)