I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: August 5, 2025] The Flaming Lips

I have now seen The Flaming Lips eight times.  Even when they play many of the same songs a lot, it’s always a fun and joy-filled experience.

And for the first time, I was right on the barrier to see them right up close.  So close that when they deflated the pink robots, I got to touch one!

The last time we saw them it was for the Yoshimi tour which was an evening with the Lips.  So this 75 minute set was considerably shorter, but it was a great compact set with three songs I’d never heard them play before!

They opened with an instrumental from The Soft Bulletin.  This was my first exposure to the new lineup of the band.  Steven Drozd is sitting out this tour and was replaced by AJ Slaughter who I was right in front of (I admit I was bummed that I was right in front of Steven’s spot but it wasn’t him!  Although his broken double neck guitar was there!

Slaughter did a great job playing all of Drozd’s parts and even added some pedal steel guitar which was a fantastic addition to the songs.

This was also the first time I’ve seen them with only one drummer in ages.

But the fewer musicians seemed to give room to more on stage antics.  They played parts one and two of Yoshimi and there were four giant inflatable robots filling the stage.  During part two, the confetti cannons were on full blast and I was right in the middle of it all.  Wayne also shot off his hand held confetti cannons and the delight on everyone’s faces was wonderful to be a part of.

And then they surprised the heck out of me by playing Turn It On, a song that they’ve only played a handful of times since 1995.  It’s a simple, weird Lips song and it was amazing.  I’m also delighted that they flash the words to every song on their big screens (even if one of the panels kept glitching).

Then came Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung, an unusual song that I’m always surprised they play so much.  But this time it was really fun because they launched black confetti from the cannons and by the end of the show it looked like the stage was covered in ashes.  A stage hand came out with a leaf blower and blew all the confetti off the stage (and right at me).

Up next was another massive deep cut, Five Stop Mother Superior Rain.  Wayne said it’s only the fourth time they’ve played it.  It seems they did play it back in 1995 as well, but certainly this is the first time in 30 years that the song is getting exposure.  I love those old Lips songs and it was really fun to hear it live.

After “FSMSR,” the band played another song I’ve never heard.  And this one I didn’t even know about.  It’s a song they did with The Chemical Brothers called “The Golden Path” back in 2003!  It was okay–a little repetitive which is kind of unusual for the Lips (although not for The Chemical Brothers).  But the stage was filled with giant aliens (the one in front of me danced gently, while the one on the other side of the stage was going nuts).  And in the middle of the stage was an inflated sun, which danced along and often hugged Wayne.

Then came Waitin for a Superman, a song I’ve always loved,  Wayne talked about how sad it is and even though I’ve listened to this song a hundred times, I found myself really moved by it this time.  Then it was back to more raucous songs like the super fun Yeah Yeah Yeah song.  New to me for this song were the two giant inflated eyeballs that stood on either side of Wayne while he had a giant inflatable lips.

I’ve always appreciated that even though She Don’t Use Jelly was a novelty hit back in the 90s, they still play it and make it the most fun possible.  When I first saw them back in 2000, they threw balloons out into the crowd during this song.  The balloons were regular sized, but there were lots of them.  Now, 25 years later, they have a dozen giant balloons (4 ft across I’d say) which the stagehands launch into the crowd.  I got to bat one around and even grabbed one to throw it back (they’re made of a rubbery substance that was easy to grab a handful of.  And when they pop—-more confetti!

They ended the set with a giant rainbow and Wayne standing under it singing Do You Realize??

I didn’t really think they’d do an encore for such a short set, but I understand why it was done as an encore.  Because they brought Isaac out and he and the Lips sang a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne with a great version of War Pigs (Wayne and Isaac traded lead vocals).  And during the instrumental parts, Wayne “attacked” Isaac with that silver shiny thing that he whips around from time to time.  Isaac even fell to the ground and they were clearly cracking up over it all.

The song felt especially apt given the world these days.

Isaac left and then ended the set with one of my favorite songs Race for the Prize.  About ten years ago, they opened with this song and just pumped confetti into the venue.  This time it ended the show but they still pumped a ton of confetti into the venue.  And it was another super fun Flaming Lips show.  But this one was special for me since I was able to be so close an really see everything and to get a pocket full of confetti.

And, for whatever reason, the traffic getting home wasn’t too bad!

	8/5/2025 Philadelphia (Mann Center)	Philadelphia (Fillmore) 8/6/2023 [Yoshimi]
	Sleeping on the Roof ß [3]	SET 1: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 ¥ [6]	Fight Test ¥ [3]
	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 2 ¥ [2]	One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21 ¥
	Turn It On ≅	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 ¥ [5]
	Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung ϖ [4]	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 2 ¥
	Five Stop Mother Superior Rain (4th time ever performing this song live, according to Wayne Coyne)	In the Morning of the Magicians ¥
	The Golden Path (The Chemical Brothers)	Ego Trippin at the Gates of Hell ¥
	Waitin’ for a Superman ß [6]	Are You a Hypnotist ¥ [3]
	The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power) ϖ [3]	It’s Summertime ¥
	She Don’t Use Jelly ≅ [6]	Do You Realize?? ¥ [5]
	Do You Realize?? ¥ [6]	All We Have Is Now ¥ [2]
	encore	Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia) ¥
	War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover) (with Isaac Brock) (Duet; dedicated to recently deceased Ozzy Osbourne and his strong anti-war stance)	SET 2: Other songs
	Race for the Prize ß [7]	She Don’t Use Jelly ≅ [5]
		The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power) ϖ [2]
		Mother I’ve Taken LSD ‰
		How?? ⊗ [3]
		Always There, In Our Hearts Ô
		Flowers of Neptune 6 ‰ [2]
		Vein of Stars (Tour debut, first time since 2016) ϖ [2]
		Assassins of Youth ‰
		Borderline (Madonna cover)
		Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung ϖ [3]
		encore
		My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion ϖ [2]
		A Spoonful Weighs a Ton ß [5]
		Race for the Prize ß [6]

 

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 [3]
Do You Realize?? ¥ [4]	Race for the Prize ß [4]	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 ¥ [2]
Dinosaurs on the Mountain ‰	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 ¥ [3]	There Should Be Unicorns ⊗
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 ¥ [4]	Fight Test ¥ [2]	Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung ϖ [2]
Flowers of Neptune 6 ‰	The Star-Spangled Banner	What is the Light? ß [3]
At the Movies on Quaaludes ‰	The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power) ϖ	The Observer ß [2]
She Don’t Use Jelly ≅ [4]	There Should Be Unicorns ⊗ [2]	How?? ⊗
Silver Trembling Hands ♦	Space Oddity [David Bowie] [2]	Space Oddity [David Bowie]
Will You Return / When You Come Down ‰	How?? ⊗ [2]	Feeling Yourself Disintegrate ß [4]
Waitin’ for a Superman ß [5]	Are You a Hypnotist?? ¥ [2]	The Castle ⊗
Why Does It End? ϖ (live debut)	The W.A.N.D. ϖ [3]	Are You a Hypnotist ¥
Feeling Yourself Disintegrate ß [5]	Waitin’ for a Superman (piano) ß [4/1]	The W.A.N.D. ϖ [2]
encore	A Spoonful Weighs a Ton ß [4]	A Spoonful Weighs a Ton ß [3]
Sunship Balloons Σ	encore	The Abandoned Hospital Ship [2]
All We Have Is Now ¥	Do You Realize?? ¥ [3]	Waitin’ for a Superman ß [3]
Race for the Prize ß [5]		Do You Realize? ¥ [2]

 

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 [2]	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 ≅ [3]	The Spark That Bled ß [2]	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 © [2]	Sleeping on the Roof ß
Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus With Needles ©	Feeling Yourself Disintegrate ß [2]	She Don’t Use Jelly ≅
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 ¥	Sleeping on the Roof ß [2]	Slow Nerve Action ≅
Feeling Yourself Disintegrate ß [3]	The Spiderbite Song ß	Over the Rainbow (cover)
Vein of Stars ϖ	She Don’t Use Jelly ≅ [2]	Lightning Strikes the Postman ©
Butterfly, How Long It Takes to Die Ô	What Is the Light? ß [2]	Waitin’ for a Superman ß
The W.A.N.D. ϖ	Waitin’ for a Superman ß [2]	What is the Light ß
A Spoonful Weighs a Ton ß [2]	When You Smile © [2]	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)
In a Priest Driven Ambulance