Flaming Lips Flicker in Vegas

Posted By:	Tyler Sanders
Posted On:	Mon Oct 15th, 2007

Sunday, September 28th brought a free concert to the Palms pool courtyard by the Flaming Lips. It was all modern chic at the pool area with many different kinds of seats and balconies for the fans. I ended up lounging on a circular couch to the left of the stage because I felt like relaxing and staying off my feet. Coincidentally, I was curious to see a rather sizeable gathering of police cars in the parking lot of the Palms. As it turns out it had nothing to do with the concert, actually it was more of a sports related matter as they were there to arrest OJ Simpson. Sounds like he would have been better off taking in the concert.

The set began with a song "Free Radicals" from the newest album. Singer Wayne Coyne's vocals were a little better than the last time I had seen them, but the bass overpowered the overall sound. Next was "Do You Realize" from the Yoshimi album. I had heard they revamped their setlist in the past year, but they proceeded on with other recent tracks like "The W.A.N.D." and "Yeah Yeah Yeah." And of course their other concert favorites like "Test," "Waiting For Superman," "She Don't Use Jelly" and "Race For The Prize." Unfortunately there was little of the old material other than "Mountainside" from the Priest Driven Ambulance album. And just about no mid '90s material. No "Turn It On," or "This Here Giraffe," or "Bad Days." Sorry but these guys seem to be afraid of revisiting their roots.

On another note, the Lips have changed the stage show. There are people in Alien heads instead of animal costumes. No giant ball with Wayne inside and instead we get a visit from Captain America. Though the Lips have been big on spectacle since Soft Bulletin, I prefer the magic they create in the studio.