The Flaming Lips and Cannabis Culture

The opening band Stardeath and White Dwarfs were about a minute into Black Sabbath's 'Sweet Leaf' when the pungent odor of marijuana wafted to me from across the LC Pavilion. It was the night of September 18, and all of the fearless freaks, punk rock acid casualties, and psychedelic-costumed fruits and body parts in Columbus were gathered in one place for a pivotal end-of-summer event. The Flaming Lips were in town to celebrate New Years in their special way; with confetti, laser pointers, giant hamster balls, and complete disregard for the fact that the New Year occurs between December 31 and January 1.

'Stardeath' played some very entertaining vaguely electronic rock and roll, ending with a cover of Madonna's 'Borderline,' a crowd favorite. I would definitely recommend picking up their album. Ultimately, though, everyone was there to see the Flaming Lips, and with reason. The Lips proceeded to get the entire place quaking under a bacchanalian sea of love and good vibes reminiscent of the Age of Aquarius, from their birth through a pulsing technicolor vagina on a projection screen to the opener 'Race for the Prize.'

Frontman Wayne Coyne professed the importance of pot several times throughout the concert, though it seemed to me that the proper way to enjoy the Lips would be a few micrograms of some lysergic bliss. Indeed, with bananas in the crowd and yetis flanking the band on stage, it seems that the Lips' live show may be the trippiest one around.

The band was on tour in support for their new LP 'Embryonic,' a rhythmic affair heavily influenced by krautrock bands CAN and Faust, as well as the psychedelic rock of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. The Lips performed several new songs; the standout tracks were 'Silver Trembling Hands' and 'Convinced of the Hex.'

Of course, most of the concert were old favorites; the Lips aim to please. 'Pompeii am Götterdämmerung,' 'Enthusiasm for Life Defeats Existential Fear,' and 'Fight Test' (a new stop/start version which I had never heard before) were all in the setlist.

For this tour, the Flaming Lips were providing a special service to the fans. If you purchased a ticket, you were given a code which would give you access to a live bootleg of your concert. Unfortunately, Kliph Scurlock - the drummer - had a migraine and the band was wary of recording the show because their performance could have suffered. Lucky for all of us concert-goers, there are several devoted Lips fans which took the matter of recording the show into their own hands. See below:

"Enthusiasm For Life Defeats Existential Fear" The Flaming Lips HD 09/18/2009 from Jeremy Sewell on Vimeo.