The Soft Bulletin 6/14/11
In one word: eccentric. The Flaming Lips refuse to be confined within the norm, and instead, they propel themselves to a world far beyond. Even their venue shatters visions of the mundane. Famous guests such as Harry Truman, Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer, and Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone are all in attendance, because this is no ordinary venue. The Flaming Lips will be preforming The Soft Bulletin in its entirety in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Before our feature presentation can begin, small, blond, innocent looking Marnie Stern takes the stage and begins to play to a picnicking crowd of trendy LA goers. She emits high pitched nasal squeals, which creates the impression that she has just inhaled a large tank of helium. But no matter, the throbbing bass and pounding drums make the Sonic Youth inspired wails welcome. Screeching guitars, spewed chants, and vulgar talk of vaginas proved to the crowd that looks truly are deceiving.
An orb of a moon high in an orange sky drenched in fog, greeted The Flaming Lips as they made their dramatic appearance. From a giant flashing eyeball on the LCD video wall, each member emerged through a door near the pupil; The Flaming Lips began the first of what they (and we included) all hope to be an annual event. With space bubble fully inflated and fur collar round neck, Wayne Coyne descends into the outstretched hands of his audience. Confetti, streamers, and giant balloons of all colors pour from the sky as “Race for the Prize” opens a sure-to-be spectacular show.
During “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton,” the band flashed clips of Teletubbies on the monitor, cleverly drawing a parallel to the symbolism of the sun in both song and child’s television show. The show continued, keeping everyone on their toes– not knowing what would happen next. Occasionally, Coyne’s face would appear on the video wall to preach about love, life, and all the stuff that really matters. The theatrics in the show were marvelous but stood no comparison to the raspy, iconic vocals and the space rock
that encompassed aspects of both new-age and retro style.
After “The Spark that Bled,” in which Coyne brought out a pair of oversized hands, it was fitting that he inform the audience how very important hands are. He told how the next song, “The Spiderbite Song,” was based on “real life events.” Events such as the time Steven Drozd got a spider bite on his hand and the doctor said they would have to cut it off. He explained what a tragedy that would have been since “everyone loves their hands.” At times he would interrupt the song to tell the crowd: “This first verse is about Steven. I love Steven,” “The second verse is about Michael [Ivins],” “and this, this is about all of us!”
Bodies really began to move when the band burst into “What is the Light?” and the giant disco ball above the stage came to life and illuminated the tombstones. The bass drum booms and the strobe lights flash to the beat: I am certain now that The Flaming Lips have hypnotized their entire audience, and the stares of pure amazement reinforce my thinking. “C’mon Motherfuckers!” This seems to be Coyne’s key phrase to wake everyone from their trance.
“Some of these songs fuck me up cause I remember what was happening when we came up with them,” Coyne says in his pre “Waitin’ for a Superman” monologue. Meaning gets attached to songs, which he says makes them even more meaningful to the band. He immediately gives an example of this saying how their dear friend, Elliott Smith, was one who was waiting for a superman, and we can’t wait, cause life is heavy, but music can help relieve some of that weight.
The gong was struck repetitively and melodically during “The Gash.” Streamers were shot and jazzercisers bounced on the screen. After the jubilant ruckus, Coyne turned to a more solemn note. He spoke about how horrible it is to realize that we are all disintegrating, but how wonderful it is that young people can come together and celebrate life. “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate” begins and Coyne sings, “but life, without death, is just impossible.” This simplistic reminder seems to be an unspoken theme for the evening.
An encore brings the band back to play three more songs. Like the crowd pleasers they are, The Flaming Lips do not fail to deliver. They play a selection of their most popular songs, “She Don’t Use Jelly,” “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song,” and “Do You Realize?” There are bursts of never-ending confetti and smoke until the night sky is no longer visible. The millions of tiny pieces of colored paper land like butterflies on the noses of fans. Coyne sings the famous line in his last song of the night, "Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die?" Standing in a graveyard at midnight with two or so thousand people I don’t know, I can almost hear the collective thoughts answer: yes.
The Dark Side of the Moon 6/15/11
Wayne Coyne entered the stage to bring exciting information to the ears of his eager fans. Tonight, the full moon would be experiencing a lunar eclipse. Everyone crossed there fingers in hopes that it would occur during "Eclipse." The Flaming Lips, in all their creative genius, thought that it would be a good idea to incorporate songs from the Wizard of Oz into their cover of The Dark Side of the Moon, since we all know of the many uncanny synchronizations between the two. A perfect idea. The show opened with a cheery rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" equipped with megaphone, confetti, stage dancers, lights– the works. Then the music crossed over to the Dark Side and into deep tranced-out psychedelia. Their versions contained many elements of the original pieces, yet the songs sounded completely new. From Pink Floyd and The Flaming Lips a new hybrid was born, a Flaming Floyd fusion of both bands individual sounds.
After showcasing the tender side of Coyne’s voice in "Time," the band barged into "We’re Off to See the Wizard." Warping into yet another song, Coyne brought out his giant hands with laser lights shooting out from the palms. He aimed them at the disco ball and they reflected magnificently and scattered through the audience. He paused before "Great Gig in the Sky" to give credit to his friend who sang the song on the album. Then, to the crowd’s surprise, he says, "You know I wouldn’t have even said it, if she wasn’t right here with us tonight. Everyone please welcome Peaches!" The canadian electro musician emerged wearing an outfit to make Lady Gaga proud. Decked in a black sparkly dress with towering pointed shoulders and cape she belted out the iconic wails and moans in "Great Gig in the Sky."
"Money" was a real crowd favorite. With megaphone in hand Coyne sang and tossed out huge balloons filled with money. The balloons never made it far into the crowd before they were popped, but it was a beautiful sight to see money falling from the sky. Coyne liked it too, and explained his uncommon action by saying, " My generosity exploded!" A horizontal wall of projected, multicolored, flashing lights appeared during "Us and Them." The powerful ballad was supported by the video wall’s display of essential lyrics. The complex meaning, somber tone, and flashing lights determine that this show is not for the faint of heart any more than it is for the epileptic.
Then it was back to the Wizard of Oz with "If I Only Had a Brain," which Coyne says is "one of [his] favorite songs of all time." Weaving the songs of the Wizard of Oz into The Dark Side of the Moon is no problem for The Flaming Lips as they begin to play Pink Floyd’s song, "Brain Damage," which also deals with the effects of the brain, and coincidentally happens to overlap the brainless scarecrow’s song in the movie. Coyne sings "the lunatic is on the grass" then spurts out jauntily, "thats you! You’re on the grass!" The Flaming Lips pour all their energy into their performances and manage to make a serious and dark album fun. They finish "Eclipse" and leave the stage which now is displaying an image of a real human heart pulsating. Heart beats pound through a cold graveyard as the crowd screams for the encore.
After they return to play "She Don’t Use Jelly," Coyne stops abruptly to go look at the moon. He comes back rather dejected, "Steven, I think it’s sad. The moon has disappeared… We were singing in celebration to the moon, and we fucking killed it! There are some things in life we just can’t control, so let’s sing ‘The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song!’" That seemed to be the trick. After that song, everyone had pretty much forgotten about the uncooperative moon. Then via fan request, the band began to play "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots." Aided by a cellphone app, the band played a new song that was originally a collaboration with Neon Indian called "Is David Bowie Dying?" It might sound redundant, but the sound with its spine-chilling electric spaciness was clearly influenced by Bowie.
There is something about being in a grassy field surrounded by the deceased that makes you think about what life is all about. Coyne says that death is devastating, but is also a reminder that you are alive, because sometimes we forget: "I don’t really believe that there is anything after this… I think we are lucky to have this!" The crowd cheers with new gratitude for life as coyne continues: "The things we don’t know and the things we can’t control, I think that is why we sing songs." And he sings once more, "Do you realize that everyone you know, someday, will die?" He smiles and answers for us, "I know you do."
