As the sun sets over the iconic palm trees of the St Kilda foreshore, a flurry of sparkles, sequins and glitter and some splashes of neon paint are gathering outside and in the foyer of a beautiful old theatre in Melbourne. Both those in the know and those who are part of this not-so-secret cult following are all here and they wouldn’t miss this show for the world.
The Grates are an interesting choice for the support act, but quickly it becomes clear that Patience Hodgson’s energy and eccentricity quickly add up as a perfect match to warm up for the Flaming Lips.
The extroverted performer is dressed in white platform shoes and a white summer jumpsuit filled with geometric patterns while the band members are dressed up in all black and animal hats. They sound tight, engage the crowd and Hodgson’s voice is strong and pitch perfect, before soon a large portion of the crowd are singing along.
The next 100 minutes is a hallucinatory spectacle full of props, psychedelic visuals, larger than life costumes, hundreds of colourful LED lights and not a single bum in a seat.
It starts off like any ordinary show, with a bit of darkness and some guitar feedback as the band gets in position with their instruments. Much-loved frontman Wayne Coyne, dressed in silver pants and colourful pom poms, begins singing, then boom!
Huge colourful balloons fly from every direction, confetti of every colour fills the air and startling lights blind and energise the crowd.
The first part of their set is full of classics and favourites like ‘Flight Test’, ‘Vaseline’ and ‘Yoshimi Battles with Pink Robots’. The infamous Miley Cyrus and Coyne friendship that has had Coyne all over the media gets a mention, and for a split second it feels like she might come out to the stage.
Huge blow up characters join the band on stage, there are butterfly-slug type creatures, a sun, and a wolf-type animal upon which Coyne sits while he tells a warped children’s story gone wrong, about make believe and…drugs.
Throughout the elaborate and whacky spectacle, the huge balloons are still bounced around through the crowd, and the ‘Fuck Yeah Melbourne’ blow up sign is still being carried across peoples’ heads like an oversized silver crowdsurfer.
Later on, the tempo is brought down with a heartfelt ‘Feeling Yourself Disintegrate’. Coyne’s voice wavers a little on the slower songs, but the bright lights and projections quickly distract the audience from this. Coyne tells the crowd how much he loves Melbourne, and there is the feeling that his words are heartfelt, as there is with everything he says to the audience tonight.
The Flaming Lips are, Coyne reminds the crowd, the best band you’ll see and that a Flaming Lips audience is the best audience. He reassures everyone that other bands will say the same thing, but they’re incorrect.
And why? Because the Flaming Lips have a way of making people feel good. If there is someone experiencing sadness in the crowd, Coyne says, perhaps they’ll get some happiness out of all the joyful people around them and feel a bit better. Looking around, it is clear that Coyne knows what he is talking about.
The encore is the predictable but fun ‘Do You Realise’ with more lights and confetti. Looking around at the huge grins on peoples’ faces, it’s easy to see why this band with more than 20 years’ history still has a cult following, and how they can pull off his large-scale spectacle without taking away from their solid and adored musical talent. The Flaming Lips are certainly still going strong.
Check out the full photo gallery from the gig here.
