The Flaming Lips - Therbarton Theatre, Adelaide
16th November 2011
Words: Rob Lyon
Words: Rob Lyon
Hats off to Harvest Festival organisers for showing faith in Adelaide by bringing The Flaming Lips to town, which will no doubt go down one as of the shows of the year. After being treated to The National and The Walkmen the previous night, the bar was set high for The Flaming Lips.
Warming the stage was West Australian band Pond who are an interesting proposition featuring members from well known act Tame Impala. The crowd was relatively receptive to this combination of 70s prog rock and psychedelia until one of the members made a smart arse remark about Adelaide – not clever!
Still, it was the main act that people were waiting for and it was unusual to see members of the Flaming Lips setting up their own gear and sound checking. A short time later front man Wayne Coyne delivered a safety message to the crowd, warning of the use of strobe lights and that the space bubble would be coming out and all hands would be required to maintain the bubble’s momentum. It really did set the scene and showed a lot of respect for the safety of those punters down the front and the general down to earth nature of the band.
The Flaming Lips hardly need an introduction, especially after leaving such a favourable impression with their performances at the Big Day Out back in 2004 and the Splendour in the Grass shows of 2009. This new show had everything we’d seen on previous tours and more.
As the lights dimmed, the projection of a naked dancing girl graced the large screen backdrop. The intro music swelled and the woman proceeded to lower her self into a birthing position. A door opened from between her legs and the band, minus Wayne Coyne, subsequently entered the stage tearing straight into a version of In Excelsior Vaginalistic.
Warming the stage was West Australian band Pond who are an interesting proposition featuring members from well known act Tame Impala. The crowd was relatively receptive to this combination of 70s prog rock and psychedelia until one of the members made a smart arse remark about Adelaide – not clever!
Still, it was the main act that people were waiting for and it was unusual to see members of the Flaming Lips setting up their own gear and sound checking. A short time later front man Wayne Coyne delivered a safety message to the crowd, warning of the use of strobe lights and that the space bubble would be coming out and all hands would be required to maintain the bubble’s momentum. It really did set the scene and showed a lot of respect for the safety of those punters down the front and the general down to earth nature of the band.
The Flaming Lips hardly need an introduction, especially after leaving such a favourable impression with their performances at the Big Day Out back in 2004 and the Splendour in the Grass shows of 2009. This new show had everything we’d seen on previous tours and more.
As the lights dimmed, the projection of a naked dancing girl graced the large screen backdrop. The intro music swelled and the woman proceeded to lower her self into a birthing position. A door opened from between her legs and the band, minus Wayne Coyne, subsequently entered the stage tearing straight into a version of In Excelsior Vaginalistic.
It wasn’t long before Wayne’s giant space bubble inflated and his frame rolled out into the crowd, crushing anything in his wake. This triggered the release of streamers and massive balloons filled with confetti from the balcony. Keeping the masses entertained, this was truly an impressive sight, and by now, a dozen young dancers dressed in sailors outfits, had assembled themselves each side of stage and every punter in the place was grinning from ear to ear. Subsequently and equally uniquely, multi instrumentalist, Steven Drozd was casually strumming two guitars, one strapped over the other and a hammering away at a piano. Holy Moses! What a way to open a show!
The music soon morphed into the Black Sabbath cover Sweet Leaf but for most, the focus was on the balloons that were working their way around the crowd. Worm Mountain was great and it didn’t take long for the band to venture into more familiar territory. She Don’t Use Jelly and The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song, gave the dancing sailor girls the opportunity to bust out some serious moves. It was amusing to hear Coyne say ‘sometimes there’s just too many fucking balloons but for the next few you can get a beer without getting confetti in it and listen’.
Is David Bowie Dying? was performed by Drozd and his iPhone, which was then followed by Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1, sending the crowd in to overdrive. In jest, Coyne asked the crowd not to clap as “it fucks me up” but they did it anyway. See The Leaves was amazing with the neon naked dancing girl making a return to the huge video screen, but it was Wayne’s novelty monster hands, reflecting lasers through the crowd from a mirror ball hung high above the stage, which created one of the more unique affects this crowd would witness.
On screen lyrics for Drug Chart was handy and the message behind What Is Light? is interesting, with the words on the screen making the lyrics even more powerful. Although it was right about now where the set turned a little self-indulgent and perhaps it could have wrapped up sooner.
The music soon morphed into the Black Sabbath cover Sweet Leaf but for most, the focus was on the balloons that were working their way around the crowd. Worm Mountain was great and it didn’t take long for the band to venture into more familiar territory. She Don’t Use Jelly and The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song, gave the dancing sailor girls the opportunity to bust out some serious moves. It was amusing to hear Coyne say ‘sometimes there’s just too many fucking balloons but for the next few you can get a beer without getting confetti in it and listen’.
Is David Bowie Dying? was performed by Drozd and his iPhone, which was then followed by Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1, sending the crowd in to overdrive. In jest, Coyne asked the crowd not to clap as “it fucks me up” but they did it anyway. See The Leaves was amazing with the neon naked dancing girl making a return to the huge video screen, but it was Wayne’s novelty monster hands, reflecting lasers through the crowd from a mirror ball hung high above the stage, which created one of the more unique affects this crowd would witness.
On screen lyrics for Drug Chart was handy and the message behind What Is Light? is interesting, with the words on the screen making the lyrics even more powerful. Although it was right about now where the set turned a little self-indulgent and perhaps it could have wrapped up sooner.
None-the-less, the band soon returned for the first of two encores, the first of which featured two Pink Floyd covers; Brain Damage and Eclipse. References were made to them only being songs you play in the summer and that they’re essentially songs about going insane and the horrible things you can’t control. Bliss! Definitely one of the standout moments of the show.
Encore number two was reserved for the epic Do You Realize. As far as finales go, this was unbelievable and it was like they crammed all the highlights from the show and repackaged them one last time to remind fans what they saw. This was one hell of a show and it would be hard to knock it off the perch as the best for 2011.
Encore number two was reserved for the epic Do You Realize. As far as finales go, this was unbelievable and it was like they crammed all the highlights from the show and repackaged them one last time to remind fans what they saw. This was one hell of a show and it would be hard to knock it off the perch as the best for 2011.
Set list:
In Excelsior Vaginalistic
Sweet Leaf (Black Sabbath cover)
Worm Mountain
She Don't Use Jelly
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
Is David Bowie Dying?
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1
See the Leaves
Laser Hands (cymbal jam)
Drug Chart
What is the Light?
The Observer
Pedal/Noise Toy Jam
Encore 1:
Brain Damage (Pink Floyd cover)
Eclipse (Pink Floyd cover)
Encore 2:
Do You Realize??
In Excelsior Vaginalistic
Sweet Leaf (Black Sabbath cover)
Worm Mountain
She Don't Use Jelly
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
Is David Bowie Dying?
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1
See the Leaves
Laser Hands (cymbal jam)
Drug Chart
What is the Light?
The Observer
Pedal/Noise Toy Jam
Encore 1:
Brain Damage (Pink Floyd cover)
Eclipse (Pink Floyd cover)
Encore 2:
Do You Realize??