The Flaming Lips Burst with Color in DC
It’s not every day you get shoot a legendary band, but I got just that opportunity recently when I covered The Flaming Lips in DC (at The Anthem of course). 20 years after the debut of perhaps their most celebrated album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, the band has embarked on an anniversary tour. Clad with the fever dream inducing show pieces that have made them storied live performers, Wayne Coyne and co brought an unincumbered burst of color to the Anthem for a whimsically psychedelic night. With no support at all, the band played two sets of their own.
The first set of the night covered the celebrated album in its entirety, from “All We Have is Now” to “In the Morning of the Magicians”. Flanked by gigantic pink robots, [Coyne] kicked off the show with the no-brainer “Fight Test”. From there the setlist unfolded, with magically thematic stage pieces accompanying each track: giant spinning disco balls, inflatable rainbows, and enough confetti to throw a never-ending fiesta; each moment of this show was a well-planned visual experience, from what I know, I should’ve expected nothing less. After closing out set 1 with “Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon “, the band left the stage for a brief intermission, before returning for the final act.
Opening the second set was the [perhaps] the band’s best-known hit, “She Don’t Use Jelly”. This was without question my favorite part of the night; accompanying the performance were more than a dozen giant balloons filled with confetti, dispersed across the audience. For all the cool things I’ve seen, watching hundreds of adults toss balloons through the air whilst a blaring live soundtrack plays before them is an experience I can’t see myself forgetting, not in this lifetime. The rest of the set included tracks from albums all across [The Flaming Lips’] discography: “Assassins of Youth”, “How??”. Start to finish, the night was filled with loud colors and vibrant sounds, the Flaming Lips experience is one like no other.
Full Gallery Below!