The crazy, the fabulous...Flaming Lips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looking at my
watch, it was 9.45 and although it had been so hot during the day I was glad of
the hoodie as I shivered involuntarily for a second. Looking towards the stage
I could see a lot going on. There were about a dozen or so people up there
fiddling with various bits of equipment. It seemed like a soundcheck with
roadies rushing around taping things together but with an added hum and buzz of
music. I glanced up and saw Wayne Coyne, wearing a cream linen suit hitting
various drums and cymbals and testing mics. Had the show already started and
was this some sort of improv thing? He was moving from piece to piece with a
roll of gaffa tape in his hand, securing things down. Every so often he went to
the edge of the stage, chatting with the crowd and shaking hands. This must
have gone on for about ten or fifteen minutes or so and sums up why I love the
Flips so much. The DIY ethic is not dead and there is obviously such a blurred
line between the band and their fans, one that is clearly and actively fostered
by the band themselves. They are still the band and we are still the fans and
there will always be a separation but there is a distinct feeling and
knowingness that we are all in this together, all for a common purpose. After a
few last words and handshakes Wayne Coyne and the rest left the stage.
…then all the
lights went down…
A deep,
pulsating, throbbing noise emerged through the speakers, gradually getting
louder and louder. From the backdrop at the back of the stage out squeezed
firstly Kilph Scurlock, then Steven D, Michael Ivins and finally Wayne Coyne to
a massive cheer from the crowd. I couldn’t at first place what they were
playing-was it something from Dark Side of the Moon? It sounded a bit like it
with that chiming instrumental but it slowly dawned on me that it was a track
from Embryonic. A big transparent balloon was being inflated on the stage and
before too long Wayne Coyne was clambering inside and being rolled over the heads
of the crowd. At the same time the music was carrying on getting louder and
more frenetic and dozens of coloured balloons were shooting out from the stage
into the crowd. On the screens I could see Wayne Coyne bouncing inside the
balloon, grinning wildly and being carried by everyone’s hands, at first deeper
and deeper into the centre of the crowd and then back towards the stage. This
was simply amazing and I could sense that it would be a magical night. There
was, already, a genuine sense of happiness in the air. The mad jam of music
carried on swirling until the balloon reached the stage and Wayne emerged out
of it, bounding back on and picking up a megaphone/bullhorn mike thing. They
then launched into Worm Mountain whilst he exhorted the crowd to “come on
motherfuckers, come on!!!” and firing multi-coloured streamers over everyone’s
heads from a sort of adapted water super-soaker type gun thing again and again,
falling gently like ribbons in the night sky. Even more primary coloured
balloons were thrown from the stage into the audience; orange, blue, white,
red, yellow. Bouncing from hand to hand, syncing with the bouncing music, it
was a magical spectacle.
Get/read/see "Turn Left at the Womble" here
UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-The-Womble-Glastonbury-ebook/dp/B0060YCKGW
US http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Left-The-Womble-Glastonbury-ebook/dp/B0060YCKGW
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