There is something very special about being able to combine a variety of characteristics to produce something better than the sum of its parts, and that’s rarely been done before in rock history. For this reason and this reason alone The Flaming Lips should not only be treasured and admired, but be made compulsory listening for every man, woman and child. It is also true to say that anyone who has witnessed one of their live shows will have it in their top 5 gigs of all time. The band, headed by the normal looking Wayne Coyne, is both brilliantly odd and wonderfully peculiar.


This live MVI (another new media format) is basically a live DVD of their eclectic live show from 2006 in Oaklahoma City’s (the band’s home town) zoo, a downloadable album of the show and a host of online bonus material such as ring-tones, interviews and some strange alien stuff that I am not even going to attempt to comprehend.

This show has to be one of the most daring and adventurous shows ever performed. It has the grandness of U2 at their most arrogant while maintaining the indie soul of the Pixies, and touching the most “what the fuck?” moments from Bjork. It really is a spectacular a show…

The show opens with the ‘mothership’ descending slowly and eventually releasing the band onto the stage, except for Coyne who emerges from the top in his bubble to roll down the front and over the crowd before returning to the stage. Emerging from his bubble the band explodes into ‘Race For The Prize.’ The performance of this opening number has everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. But The Flaming Lips don’t try and replicate anything or dazzle you with lasers or huge screens, they do it old school - but on a massive scale. By the end of the song there are so many balloons, streamers and people in costumes on the stage and over the crowd that it feels like it is going to take the rest of the show for it all to settle back down to earth. The other really alluring thing is that Coyne spends half the song punching the air in victory at the (organised?) chaos developing around him, and exhibits an almost childlike disbelief that his little band been is able to play such a huge show, and do it in the way he had imagined it his dreams.

The great thing about the excess of the first song is that the aftermath of props lying around means the whole show is littered with them to provide a plethora of ad hoc moments from all quarters. The show is interlaced with footage of the show being set up and the eager crowd waiting to get in and treating the show as a pilgrimage of faith. Coyne actually refers to his band as aliens and almost takes being referred to as merely a band as an insult, it is just so strange… How can I explain it, well the band are flanked by a group of about 20 Santa Clauses on the right of the stage and about 20 aliens on the left, who are fans recruited from the queue before the show, but very cheaply dressed so that this never becomes an overproduced spectacle by and never feels rehearsed or fake.

Coyne generally deals with aliens, robots and the downright strange, but when he approaches something which us mere mortals class as real, such as the politics at the start of the ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah Song‘, it is so sincere and from the heart that it makes you think twice about how imaginary the content of the alien songs actually are. The streamers and confetti continue throughout with the band almost annoyed that they can’t get through them quick enough.

There is one point when Coyne blows a balloon up to about 10 feet until it explodes with an almighty bang to end a song. This gives you the idea of how they surprise you time after time with a totally unique but simple array of tricks and treats. It all feels very DIY and low budget, particularly the pre-show bit when Coyne is going round fixing everything with duct tape. Even the first decent and final ascent to from and to the mothership is made on a small step ladder held up by Captain Blue (don’t ask)

The introduction to ‘Do You Realize?‘ is a key moment in the show as Coyne explains why he believes the band’s audience is the best in the world. He tells the crowd that some people in the crowd will be there to forget some tragedy or heartbreak, and the band’s fans provide the most wonderful escape from their real life nightmare. This seems like a small point, but when you read the accompanying booklet, there is a letter from a grieving mother who thanked the band for doing just that. Then during the song, there is just wave upon wave of more and more streamers and confetti blasted into the crowd, it is endless, emotional and absolutely triumphant.

Captain Blue (don’t ask) takes to the stage to get the crowd going for the encore, ‘Love Yer Brain‘, which contains the most immaculately observed clap-along you could ever wish to see. This is probably the best live music DVD I have ever seen, and ranks alongside Wilco’s ‘I Am Trying To Break Your Heart.’ The fact that it comes with all the extras, and particularly the downloadable album, makes this not only a brilliant piece of work but also a great value purchase. Finally, the concert has made me understand the intrinsic value and attraction of the band’s music. Essential.

5/5