by hygraed » Sat Jul 28, 2007 2:51 am
11.00 PM, July 27 to 12.30 AM, July 28 was one long orgasm for me.
Every year for the past five or so years, there has been a big music festival in my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, called Diversafest. The typical lineup consists of rather mediocre indie rock bands from Oklahoma, with the occasional good act that you miss because you didn't know what stage they were playing on.
However, this year, the Flaming Lips played on the main stage. Despite the fact that they hail from Oklahoma City, they haven't played Tulsa since 1995. In the twelve years since, their live shows have grown into gigantic spectacles, with confetti, enormous balloons, and all sorts of ridiculously elaborate light shows.
The fact that this particular Lips show was one of many in a music festival did not cause them to tone down their show any; in fact, it was rather more spectacular than they have been in the past.
If you attended/have seen video of their September 2006 show at the Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheater, you may remember the gigantic metal UFO that descended over the stage. The UFO made a reappearance in tonight's show, complete with Wayne's big rubber hamster ball emerging from the top of the UFO to roll around on the upturned palms of the audience members.
Onstage, behind the band members, was a large semicircular screen. It displayed, at different times, the band members, abstract patterns of color, sound visualizations, music videos, and at certain intervals a dancing nude woman.
At the corners of the stage were enormous orange confetti guns. These would fire confetti and streamers at strategic moments.
The setlist itself was quite satisfactory. I would have liked for them to play more of their old, pre-Zaireeka material, as their most recent album was rather disappointing. The energy of their performance largely made up for the occasionally mediocre material, however.
Wayne informed the audience that someone had suggested that they fill the entire venue with smoke, but the idea was abandoned due to the fact that the show took place outdoors. However, Wayne got the idea that if everybody smoked pot at the same time, then an aromatic haze would cover the whole audience, creating an effect visually similar but much more pleasing. He also told us that he had okayed the idea with the mayor, who reportedly said "Fuck yes!" This may be somewhat untrue.
Near the end of the show, the band played a protest song called "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song." The lyrics are full of jabs at President Bush, and Wayne urged the audience to not just sing the "yeah yeah yeah" parts, but to scream them, to get as angry as we could about the current situation in government. He also briefly expounded upon his views on the President, with such nuggets of wisdom as "Let's use our combined intellect to not re-elect such a dumbshit next time!" and "I'm fuckin' mad as fuck!"
The most moving part of the show, in my opinion, was when Wayne hauled out what appeared to be a bugle. He informed us that it was not a real bugle, but instead it had had a speaker implanted into it so that it could play "Taps" on command. He told us that these are used because there aren't enough real musicians to play at all the military funerals for servicemen dying in the Iraq war. He then fired up the bugle, and the band joined the tinny, canned rendition of "Taps" with enormous, sweeping soundscapes.
The finale was a wonderfully orchestrated performance of "Do You Realize??" for which the confetti guns were pushed to their full capacity, blasting loads of smoke and confetti all over the audience. We all screamed ourselves hoarse singing along; I was informed by the girl standing next to me that I sounded like Tom Waits with a cold.
Despite being only about ninety minutes long, this show has cemented itself into my memory as the greatest concert I have ever attended. I strongly urge all of you to see the Flaming Lips live if the opportunity ever arises.
Boy are my legs sticky.
11.00 PM, July 27 to 12.30 AM, July 28 was one long orgasm for me.
Every year for the past five or so years, there has been a big music festival in my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, called Diversafest. The typical lineup consists of rather mediocre indie rock bands from Oklahoma, with the occasional good act that you miss because you didn't know what stage they were playing on.
However, this year, the Flaming Lips played on the main stage. Despite the fact that they hail from Oklahoma City, they haven't played Tulsa since 1995. In the twelve years since, their live shows have grown into gigantic spectacles, with confetti, enormous balloons, and all sorts of ridiculously elaborate light shows.
The fact that this particular Lips show was one of many in a music festival did not cause them to tone down their show any; in fact, it was rather more spectacular than they have been in the past.
If you attended/have seen video of their September 2006 show at the Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheater, you may remember the gigantic metal UFO that descended over the stage. The UFO made a reappearance in tonight's show, complete with Wayne's big rubber hamster ball emerging from the top of the UFO to roll around on the upturned palms of the audience members.
Onstage, behind the band members, was a large semicircular screen. It displayed, at different times, the band members, abstract patterns of color, sound visualizations, music videos, and at certain intervals a dancing nude woman.
At the corners of the stage were enormous orange confetti guns. These would fire confetti and streamers at strategic moments.
The setlist itself was quite satisfactory. I would have liked for them to play more of their old, pre-[i]Zaireeka[/i] material, as their most recent album was rather disappointing. The energy of their performance largely made up for the occasionally mediocre material, however.
Wayne informed the audience that someone had suggested that they fill the entire venue with smoke, but the idea was abandoned due to the fact that the show took place outdoors. However, Wayne got the idea that if everybody smoked pot at the same time, then an aromatic haze would cover the whole audience, creating an effect visually similar but much more pleasing. He also told us that he had okayed the idea with the mayor, who reportedly said "Fuck yes!" This may be somewhat untrue.
Near the end of the show, the band played a protest song called "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song." The lyrics are full of jabs at President Bush, and Wayne urged the audience to not just sing the "yeah yeah yeah" parts, but to [i]scream[/i] them, to get as angry as we could about the current situation in government. He also briefly expounded upon his views on the President, with such nuggets of wisdom as "Let's use our combined intellect to [i]not[/i] re-elect such a dumbshit next time!" and "I'm fuckin' mad as fuck!"
The most moving part of the show, in my opinion, was when Wayne hauled out what appeared to be a bugle. He informed us that it was not a real bugle, but instead it had had a speaker implanted into it so that it could play "Taps" on command. He told us that these are used because there aren't enough real musicians to play at all the military funerals for servicemen dying in the Iraq war. He then fired up the bugle, and the band joined the tinny, canned rendition of "Taps" with enormous, sweeping soundscapes.
The finale was a wonderfully orchestrated performance of "Do You Realize??" for which the confetti guns were pushed to their full capacity, blasting loads of smoke and confetti all over the audience. We all screamed ourselves hoarse singing along; I was informed by the girl standing next to me that I sounded like Tom Waits with a cold.
Despite being only about ninety minutes long, this show has cemented itself into my memory as the greatest concert I have ever attended. I strongly urge all of you to see the Flaming Lips live if the opportunity ever arises.
Boy are my legs sticky.