Sometimes, I suspect Wayne Coyne's his own worst enemy. As awesome as the Flaming Lips frontman is (I mean, he begins the show rolling around the audience in a giant hamster ball) he's cursed with two afflictions that constantly conspire to pierce the aura of unrelenting joy he seeks to create- he's under the delusion that he's a profound and articulate orator (which he's not) and his tedious desire for applause AT ALL TIMES has the tendency to annoy rather than inspire elation. It's unfortunate, because with a bit more restraint they could be one of the best live bands in the world- as it stands they're just a brilliant one.
Wayne's ceaseless cod-philosophical rambling apart, there were still more than enough amazing moments to soften the heart of the most embittered critic. There's few more joyous experiences in all of gigdom than gazing round at a sea of grinning, delighted faces during “Race For The Prize”, as a hundred giant balloons and a torrent of multi-coloured confetti cascaded from the skies, and I think I bust a couple of vocal chords caterwauling along to the superb “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song.” The edgier new songs (“Evil” and “See The Leaves” especially) all sounded great, and the addition of a new band member meant they were less reliant on backing tracks than in the past,. Less immediate prog-outs like “In The Morning of the Magicians” sat cosily with the big crowd-pleasing sing-alongs (“OH YOSHIMI, THEY DON'T BELIEVE ME, BUT YOU WON'T LET THOSE ROBOTS EAT ME!”) but my personal highlight was “Pompeii and Gotterdammerung,” complete with lasers and a giant psychedelic gong- a combination that made me happier than you could possibly imagine. And then, of course, there was “Do You Realize?” which was naturally wonderful in every single respect. It's true that once you've seen the Flaming Lips once, you've seen them a hundred times- their shows are always the same, and they'll never astonish quite as much as the first time you see them but despite their many flaws, I just can't help but love them.
(Photo: Weilin Wang (Flickr))
1 comment:
Great gig but I did feel it would have been even better had they played more from their awesome new album!
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