A gorgeous summer night in Calderdale sees the realisation of a bit of a musical dream of mine. I’ve wanted to see The Flaming Lips for ages, but circumstances have always gotten in the way until now. Suffice to say, as we park up and wander to the venue I’m more than a little bit excited for what’s about to happen.
The whole thing is almost a non starter though as we go through security. Regular readers will know that I’m fitted with a pacemaker, which also means no scanning at security. It’s usually no issue; just a word with the person in charge followed by a pat down. Tonight though, despite giving the usual pacemaker spiel and despite the security guys nods of understanding, when I put my arms up for a pat down, he starts to scan me instead! It briefly loiters over my pacemaker before I have to shout to make myself clear and am patted down! No damage done, but a definite numbness down my left arm and hand through the support act though! The perils of middle age gigging, eh?
I’m not too familiar with tonight’s support, The Beta Band and only have a vague awareness of their sound. However, their set tonight is a wonderful surprise. A multi instrumental, infectious pyschedelic groove for the whole time and a performance that will stay with me as well as giving me a kick up the arse into exploring that back catalogue. Stuart Murdoch is a brilliant frontman and the band are obviously enjoying themselves tonight. But to the casual observer like me, it’s the music that does the job with ‘Dry The Rain’ and ‘She’s The One’ really standing out. All in all, if I wasn’t sure at the start, I’m a total convert by the end of the set.
While the stage is being prepped for The Flaming Lips, there’s plenty of intrigue. I know that this will be a visual feast of a show, so spotting the giant balloons being stored behind the screen makes me smile. But then, there are a number of items being dragged onstage that pique my interest, several appearing to be huge pink tarpaulins which will delight everyone watching a short while later. There’s even a glimpse of singer Wayne Coyne waving from the side of the stage at one point, which helps to whet the appetite just a little bit more.
And then, there they are; no great fuss, but a visual treat alongside some truly excellent tunes – finally, The Flaming Lips!
Opener ‘The Stars Are So Big…I Am So Small…Do I Stand a Chance?’ eases us into tonight’s feast for the senses before fan favourite ‘Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt1 and Pt2’ hits and it feels like the whole place has been lifted off its feet by this bunch of blokes from Oklahoma. Before we know it there are four enormous inflatable pink robots dwarfing everything in sight while a giant singalong party ensues. If anyone needed a pick me up, the Lips seem intent on delivering.
In the trio of songs that follow, ‘The Spark That Bled’ stands out while the visuals continue at pace, making this already a memorable evening. Coyne is in good form, thankful for the sunshine, the venue and the crowd who he encourages to keep screaming their support throughout.
‘The Golden Path’ recorded in 2003 with the Chemical Brothers really picks up the pace before something quite remarkable happens. Introducing new song ‘Every Teardrop Cried’ Coyne breaks down in tears revealing that his older brother died a week ago and that he hasn’t been able to get home. What follows is a beautiful tearjerker of a song and I swear every member of the audience is just willing Coyne to get through it.
Then, shaking off the grief, the band rip through crowd favourite ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’ and the whole place is just a riot of colour, dancing and at the risk of sounding like a raging hippy…love. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so relaxed at a gig.
A brilliant ‘Five Stop Mother Superior Rain’ is up next followed by a brilliantly timed ‘It’s Summertime’, the line ‘look outside, I know that you’ll recognise it’s summertime‘ really resonating just as the blue of the Halifax sky darkens and the lights and lasers shift up a gear. Wonderful stuff.
Coyne gives us the chance at some audience participation with a brilliant version of ‘The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song’ complete with giant balloons being flung into the crowd to add to the euphoria, before it’s left to the stunning ‘Do You Realise??’ to close the show. As the remaining balloons continue to be pinged left, right and centre we also have an inflatable rainbow onstage because, as you’d expect, the band always bring their own rainbow.
After a brief interlude the band come back onstage to a fabulous reception and fly through a brilliant version of Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ before closing the night with a truly rapturous ‘Race For The Prize’.
Tonight, with my son at my side for his first ever gig, I’ve fulfilled that musical dream sure enough, but The Flaming Lips have given us much, much more. Some superb music and an evening’s entertainment that will live long in the memory. I mean who else plays such euphoric tunes under their own rainbow? Who else could prompt a riotously friendly game of musical volleyball among a few thousand people in a Grade 1 listed Georgian Cloth Hall? And who else lends you a treasure like Wayne Coyne for an hour and a half, just so you can have a bit of a dance with a load of strangers and people on stage dressed as the sun?
At a time when almost everything seems to cause anger and disappointment, the world doesn’t know just how much it needs The Flaming Lips.
Middle Age Fanclub 