The Flaming Lips, Tramshed, Cardiff
A Flaming Lips gig is somewhat of an event, a band who are legendary for gracing the stages of Glastonbury and beyond with huge stage shows where they play in an anarchic visually arresting and aurally stimulating show that enthralls from the beginning as the multi person unit play their experimental psychedelic music to a usually baying crowd. The major problem with The Flaming Lips is that they have always played huge arenas and festivals once or twice a year meaning that there is little chance of seeing them conduct these live rituals. So when the chance of seeing Wayne Coyne and his band of merriment in a more intimate space cropped up I couldn't help but get down to one of my favourite Cardiff venues to see the band in what I hoped would be full pomp.
Arriving at the sold out venue there was a sense of electricity in the air, the courtyard full of punters basking in the sunshine lubricating themselves with alcohol. I arrived late so I didn't catch the openers but with the main hall already full of bodies I waded my way in reaching the doorway at the side of stage but this was an ideal vantage point to witness the madness that was about to unfold. Then nothing... technical gremlins meant that there was much scurrying about by the band members and roadies, almost majestically Wayne Coyne took to the stage bedecked like a Cyber-Punk Pirate a wild shock of hair highlighted by a leather waistcoat and an eye patch, he explained the problems and that they'd start the show post-haste.
Back off stage there was a frenetic stressful pace but finally everything was set and the strains of Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 brought the whole band onto the stage as they all struggled to fit due to the band having two drummers and two keyboardists, the first song proper was Race For The Prize which displayed the wall of noise soundscapes The Flaming Lips ply their trade with and with a bang the confetti cannons and balloons filled the arena in a kaleidoscope of colours as the visual stimuli was almost overwhelming but the crowd lapped up every moment of it as Coyne was handed a balloon that spelled out "Fuck Yeah Cardiff" in silver letters. This was put into the crowd after the song ended and was promptly ripped apart by the audience.
Next up came Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, Pt. 1 one of their most famous songs which prompted a mass sing along to the "hi-hi-hi" karate chop refrain and featured a inflatable pink robot that Coyne clambered over to interact, from here it was more of the hypnotic sounds and visuals as the ploughed through Flight Test, the epic The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power) which built up to the ballad of The Castle which was sedate and beautiful, although the same cannot be said for Their Should Be Unicorns which featured Coyne being led through the crowd on a unicorn on wheels while shooting streamers into the crowd. This was bonkers and the sing along to She Don't Use Jelly was almost choral!
This was a gig that featured numerous visual elements supporting the swirling musicality, I'll admit it was a lot to take in for a first timer but wow I've not seen a show like it in some time like a musical circus with Coyne as the ringleader, the one track that stood out though was their cover of Space Oddity not that they needed a cover but it was great to see them paying tribute to the Thin White Duke (admittedly while Coyne was in large clear orb which he used to run over the top of the crowd, singing most of the song in the middle of the room) as so much of their changing musical identity can be traced back to Bowie's influence. If you get the chance to watch The Flaming Lips live don't pass it up as you probably won't have seen anything like it, in a smaller venue especially, they managed to make it feel like a big budget arena show with ease. Magnificent! 9/10
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