Oklahoma‘s psychedelic eccentrics THE FLAMING LIPS released hitherto
16 albums in their 43-year-long career. One of their most impressive was/is AT WAR WITH THE MYSTICS, which was released 20 years ago, last April.
Time for an anniversary deluxe edition,
which will arrive on November 13th.
The band’s mastermind Wayne Coyne tells us, with a little bit
of help from his youngest son Rex Roses, all about it below.
The eccentric fairy-tale rockers THE FLAMING LIPS, led by their psychedelic
priest Wayne Coyne are around since 1983 (oh my, I had no clue it was that long).
They have fascinated their fans with 17 albums (so far).
As a longtime fan myself, I dare to say that their concerts are even better than their records, as I experienced once more last year in Antwerp, Belgium. A visual and sonic spectacle.
Every single time I saw THE FLAMING LIPS perform (about 10 times now) it was a special spectacle, visually and sonically. And the over the years expanding visual attractions that fit the theatrical music perfectly, make every concert, an even more spiritual and unforgettable experience.
Exactly what happened again last Friday in Antwerp, Belgium when the Lips played their magical 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots in full, followed by a fan favorites set.
The whole bombastic extravaganza includes two huge (plastic) pink robots, massive confetti raining, multi-colored balloons, a lasers-directed light show, gigantic eyeballs, goblins, puppets, an inflatable rainbow and lost of other bedazzling attributes. In the middle of it all, glam & glitter magician Wayne Coyne, conducts the psychedelic rock opera.
He doesn’t stop to encourage the willing audience to scream, scream and just scream.
His keyword is LOVE. “Scream it, c’mon, scream it”. Get the loud picture? I bet you have.
The Lips are all about putting on a carnival-esque, ear-and-eye catching raree-show
filled with orchestral epicness, ecstatic highs and 60s cinematic romanticism where demons and dragons get floored and love conquers all. It’s phenomenally entertaining
and extremely mind-boosting. I only saw happy faces, and adrenaline-elated, dancing people. MAGIC! PURE MAGIC! Come back soon.
The set’s fantastic closer.
Part 1 – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots album in full
Fight Test
One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 2
In the Morning of the Magicians
Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell
Are You a Hypnotist??
It’s Summertime
Do You Realize??
All We Have Is Now
Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)
Part 2
She Don’t Use Jelly
Flowers of Neptune 6
The Spark That Bled
Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung
Waitin’ for a Superman
The Golden Path
(The Chemical Brothers cover)
Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now)
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)
Encores
True Love Will Find You in the End
(Daniel Johnston cover) Race for the Prize
Last year, highly talented 17-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter Nell Smith, was hit by fatal fate, when she died in a car crash accident.
A couple of years ago, as a dedicated The Flaming Lips fan she got in contact
with the Oklahoma band and they recorded a Nick Cave covers album together
in 2021, she was just 14. Her solo album Anxious was posthumously released
2 weeks ago.
Unfortunately, Kweller knows the pain of losing a teenage child. His 16-year old son
also passed away after a car accident. It happened two years ago. Via the Flaming Lips, Ben met Nell‘s family, and afterward he wrote this goosebumps song for her. It’ll be on
his new album Cover The Mirrors, that appears on 23rd May, on his lost son’s birthday.
