The Flaming Lips. They're consistently considered one of the best shows around. And show is the right word. When you have a half dozen Santas, alien groupies, superhero roadies, and monstrous sing-a-longs, you can't just call this a concert.
I went to the show to celebrate Mike's birthday. So he, Cheryl, Connie, Ben, and a bunch of Mike's friends and I arrived at the show together. Most of them wanted to go up to the grass and chill, but Ben and I wanted a closer view. We ended up pretty close, but still above the pit, which allowed me to get these amazing pictures without arms and heads framing the pictures.
The show started with Wayne giving instructions on what was about to happen. He told the crowd that he was about to descend from the heavens in a giant bubble, landing gently in the open arms of the crowd below. He them proceeded to fulfill his promise. After walking on the crowd, he returned to start the show with Race for the Prize, one of my favorite songs (it's about scientists, for crying out loud).
They continued their nonsense for quite a while, shooting confetti and streamers into the crowd during songs. Twice they had us sing along to a song; after Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1 and before The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song. They played She Don't Use Jelly, which I didn't need to hear, but was nice because the crowd was so excited to hear it live.
A friend of mine once said, "The best show I've ever been to has to be the Flaming Lips. Of course that's not really fair since during the show I was tripping on acid." The Flaming Lips are a great show, really giving you what they promise when you put down $40+ to see them. I'm sure this will be one of my favorite shows of the year, but with the giant venue, it didn't feel intimate enough. Maybe next time they travel through, I'll be on stage dressed as a vampire holding a flashlight and I won't care so much about the size of the venue.
Here are the majority of my pictures from the show.
And for those who weren't there, here is Wayne in his bubble:
