The Flaming Lips Concert Review: Friday, April 23

The Flaming Lips. Epic, legendary, amazing... and Wayne Coyne knows it. This was the third time I've seen the band since July (at Pitchfork, and their huge New Years show in Oklahoma City,) but this was by far the best show of their shows I've seen. It was less crowded than Pitchfork, so I was able to get really close, and New Years was amazing and a lengthy set, but it was in a large arena (which just always blows).

Coyne did his usual rolling around on the crowd thing like a hamster, except this time when he rolled over me and my friends, he took most of us out. Thankfully a man graciously reached his hands out and pulled me back to my feet, so I didn't get trampled by the crowd.

If there's one thing I can say about Coyne after seeing the Lips a few times, is he really really loves himself. He talks (almost excessively,) throughout the show, which allows him to play a realllly short set. They played most of what you would expect, "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots," "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song," "Vaseline" and "The W.A.N.D." I am upset that they have never played "Free Radicals" when I've been there, but whatever, it was still an amazing show.

The great thing about the Flaming Lips is you will never be bored at their show. Even if you don't really enjoy their music, lasers, fog, dancers, large blow-up animals and a mess of confetti will help maintain your interest. The degree that Coyne loves himself gets a little obnoxious, as he preaches to the crowd about his opinions for approximately 30 minutes, but at least he's using his music to help the causes he believes in (mainly peace and Bush-bashing). The band played a few covers of Pink Floyd for the first encore (yes, he demanded that the crowd cheer for 5 minutes not once, but twice,) and then "Do You Realize" for the final song of the set. Coyne then awkwardly came out as everyone was leaving for about 10 minutes and just bowed, which no one seemed too interested in, as that exit was far less exciting than the confetti bombs that came during the last track.