The Terror and Halloween That Almost Was
“People wanted to dance. People wanted to scream. People wanted”
NAILED covers The Flaming Lips recent live show in San Francisco
Halloween is one of the best times of the year to be in San Francisco. My wig made me look more like J Mascis than the Goth theme my friends put together, but whatever, it’s The fucking Flaming Lips. Pink rabbits, Gorillas with pink bras, wasted Ernies and Berts, witches, Wayne Coyne look-a-likes, things I have no idea of, but hell, it is a costume party and it was about to get fun. The atmosphere was electric, the people already dancing, singing, screaming and being a general good-natured Flaming Lips crowd.
If you are The Flaming Lips, you have made your name by the spectacle of your live show, alongside sometimes gritty, complicated records, and sometimes radio friendly, crowd-pleasing releases. Tonight, the band didn’t seem on top of their game. Wayne called out to the crowd that this was the best Halloween the city has ever seen, but even in his voice you could tell he didn’t really believe it. The show had to go on. The Flaming Lips came on and the first thing you noticed was that you can’t really see the band. The stage looked like a small mountain of lights where Wayne Coyne, dressed as a bloody Carrie at the High School Prom, stood at the peak of light-fall, center stage, and went nowhere else, but Queen of the pageant he was not. All a diehard would recognize as a staple of their live show were the giant red balloons released at the opening of the set. The rest of the show was watching people push these giant red balloons up into the air. That’s about it. There were some bedazzled colors on a screen behind the band, and a handful of typical green lasers. Then they were gone. The lights came up and the party was over.
Would Halloween have to wait, or was this The Flaming Lips’ concept from the start? Play their recent release, The Terror, and almost nothing else. Play all the doom and gloom and walk off stage. After every song the crowd went crazy, but it was for the end of the song, in anticipation of a party that never really arrived. People wanted to dance. People wanted to scream. People wanted. I’m almost sorry to say this, but people wanted the hits. The Lips are known for putting on a certain kind of show, and this wasn’t it. Now, I am a fan of a band following its vision, but dammit this was Halloween! This was a dance party with no dance music. It was, in a sense, a part of the Halloween spirit, it just wasn’t the spirit of the night, at least not from the perspective of the crowd.
The Terror is a dark and complicated piece of music, which may very well be a masterpiece, but nobody was paying attention. This played out as the band stayed true to their vision in the face of what the people demanded. I have respect for that, but not tonight. No one seemed to have any real connection to it. The roar was there, the fanaticism was alive in spandex and fur, the glow, the glitter, the lasers. It was a great set up, there just wasn't a punch line.
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