The Flaming Lips continually remain one of the most entertaining touring bands going as their communal rock can be referred to as psychedelic love-bombs. It was just a few months ago that the OKC band was staging gigs in their home city where fans can bounce within their own sealed bubble- a sort of fool-proof concert vaccine. Now the band is back on the road and doing the real thing and it’s surely needed more than ever.
When lead singer, Wayne Coyne, hit the stage at Tucson’s Rialto Theatre on August 24th,, he spoke to the sold-out crowd at the Rialto about not being able to do some of their usual antics since the pandemic is going full force. It was a heartfelt message, not knowing if they would be able to finish the rest of their tour.
Once the music started, all thoughts of a pandemic left the room as arms and hands swayed to the onstage extravaganza. Opening with the new number “At the Movies on Quaaludes,” the Lips jumped into their poignant anthems of survival and scientific cures: “Waitin’ For a Superman,” and “Race for The Prize”
There were many props at the Rialto show that have made the Flaming Lips shows so distinguished. Coyne spent most of the 90-minute performance inside his human hamster ball or otherwise known as an inflatable bubble. There was no riding through the crowd on a unicorn or moving through the audience hugging fans. That said, there wasn’t a dull moment throughout as metallic confetti was shot out to the crowd from the beginning to the end of the set.
The stage was filled with fog from smoke machines and the band was silhouetted with striking visual lasers shooting from the stage. Coyne brought out their large balloon letters flashing “Fuck Yeah Tucson.”
The 16-song set covered the last 20 years of their 35 something years of recording. Four songs came from 1999’s The Soft Bulletin and five from 2020’s excellent American Head. The “W.A.N.D” provided its usual hard-hitting rock flair while“Feeling Yourself Disintegrate” was filled with intricate guitar licks by Steven Drozd, where he had a chance to step away from his keyboards. The fans were there to soak up anything and everything The Flaming Lips were willing to dish out on this particular Tucson evening. Whatever it takes to enjoy live music again, The Flaming Lips will deliver their message that it is good to be alive.
Photos by Mary Andrews.
