If there’s one thing that you can predict about The Flaming Lips live show, is that you really can’t predict what will happen. Sure, you do expect some crazy outfits and maybe Wayne to come out in his hamster ball at some point, but there’s always an element of surprise at play at their shows. This is something that you really can’t say about most bands that you go out to see.
Right away the wacky tactics of the band ensued, with a girl placed in a fake hill that was attached below Wayne’s mic. Following her were more girls dressed as rainbows, mushrooms, you name it. These aspects enhanced the opening punches of “She Don’t Use Jelly” and “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1” which were performed as seemingly never-ending amounts of confetti were sent soaring over the crowd – which featured audience members who were also dressed up in various sets of costumes and face paint. Clearly, The Lips are on the same page as their fans.
While The Lips are known for their alien and fantasy elements, they showed a great deal of humanity towards the end of the show after a fan passed out in the front of the crowd. Wayne Coyne took notice of the fan, and stopped the show, making the rest of the audience aware of the cause of the interruption. He kindly asked the crowd to stay calm and patient, not willing to play over the fan who was clearly not well. The band waited patiently on stage for nearly 20-minutes until the fan was was better, and then they finished off their set with a rather meaningful performance of “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton.”
Most bands would have probably ignored the fan, or taken the delay as a chance to cut things off early to head backstage. What Wayne Coyne and the band did was a classy move in my eyes that showed that they are more than just a band. The patience and genuine concern that was on display was truly a thing of beauty.
Most of the stuff that you have been reading in the media about Coyne of late hasn’t been totally positive, so I hope more people hear about how he handled this situation, because it’s certainly worth noting much more than what tattoo he’s getting.
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