If only Binghamton University was as cool as Cornell. They get The Flaming Lips for their spring concert while we get….Andy Samberg. Don’t get me wrong, he is a funny dude, but he hardly compares to The Flaming.Fucking.Lips. Come on.
The opening band was Stardeath and White Dwarfs out of Oklahoma, just like The Flaming Lips. They sounded like a mix of The Lips & MGMT with heavy riffs over experimental psychedelic sounds.
The Flaming Lips have also carried around a reputation for putting on exceptional live shows, and last week’s show was no exception. Wayne Coyne started the show by going into his famous bubble and walked over the crowd. He came 15 feet away from me, and I gotta tell you, it is like nothing else I have ever seen before. They played a set of mostly Embryonic tunes. It was an album that I wasn’t too crazy about, but I enjoyed the set anyway. When a band can rebound with songs like “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1″, “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”, “Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung”, you can’t really complain.
The show featured costume characters, big balloons, confetti, laser points, and a light show that people with Epilepsy should avoid at all costs. In other words, the show was more of an event than a concert. There was something cool going on at all times. It was quite an experience.
The show ended with a beautiful encore of “Do You Realize???” that had Wayne Coyne tearing up. He puts everything into every performance, and it truly shows. The Flaming Lips are a must see band, do not miss the opportunity to see these guys. It was 110% worth it.
Photos & video of “Do You Realize” (that I shot) all posted below:
Do You Realize:
Jay — 24 Apr 10
Hey, it could be much, much worse. Not even bullshitting you, UNC got Sean Kingston. Mike Posner lives 20 minutes down the road, and we get SEAN KINGSTON?? I’d rather see Weezer perform every track from Raditude than have to watch a Sean Kingston concert. Okay, that’s a stretch, but still.
ParallelComics — 24 Apr 10
@ Jay, well, it’s true that Sean Kingston has trouble singing his own songs without pitch-correction and is basically a terrible live act, but I can’t really gloat- my school got OK Go and Drake.
Not a scrap of interest in either of them, I’m afraid. I mean, OK Go are only even mildly interesting when making viral videos. Lame. I would trade them, and Drake, and a player to be named later to get Andy Samberg, never mind the Flaming Lips.
Katie Dagger — 25 Apr 10
Your gig photos are always impeccable, especially the first one here!x
Erica Ogden — 29 Apr 10
Andy Samberg is just plain awesome. I saw the Flaming Lips at Cornell and it was an OK show. I would definitely DEFINITELY have preferred Cornell getting Andy Samberg.