Monday, October 24th, what a night! After work, I hopped in my car armed with two new mixes, both chock full of Flaming Lips songs.
A couple of hours later I was in Portland, Maine at the State Theater watching Wayne Coyne rolling around (on top of) the audience in his magic human hamster ball. It was so awesome!
Having read about the Lips' live shows, I knew a bit of what to expect, but it was so much more theatrical, beautiful, and colorful than I could have imagined.
The show was wicked noisy, which I loved. They sounded fantastic. "See the Leaves", "Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung", and (what I'm fairly sure was) "Is David Bowie Dying??" were my faves. "Do You Realise??" was also amazing, of course. It closed the show. Someone fainted a few rows ahead of me. Very dramatic and confusing.
There were tons of oversized balloons, confetti, oversized balloons filled with confetti, green lasers, and plenty of fog/smoke (from fog/smoke machines, of course). Wayne Coyne was wearing his usual dress pants and button down shirt, as well as a very cozy looking fur-type neck warmer/stole. He was quite a joy to watch, let me tell you. Very funny. Charming. Sweet. He has a wizard-meets-circus-ring-master kind of vibe, with a smidge of Fraggle, and/or any member of The Electric Mayhem.
I adore the Muppets, so any comparison to Fraggles or Muppets is a huge compliment! I really, really love Muppets. They're charming and adorable! I think this vibe has a lot to do with his wildly curly hair, and general playfulness and energy.
I'm still buzzing from it. Can't wait to see them next time they're in my neck of the woods!
The above photo was taken by a friend of mine who was also at the show (we went together, and danced our hearts out!) It captures the balloons, confetti, and fog/smoke very well. Beautiful, and magical. Thanks for the pic!
