EDITED/PUBLISHED BY: FRIDAE MATTAS
Review and Photos By: Joanna Glezakos for Fridae TV
Having formed in 1983 The Flaming Lips have been performing for 34 years and still put on one of the best performances I have ever seen. It was a cold night by Polson Pier in Toronto as music lovers of all ages arrived at Rebel. Formally known as The Sound Academy, The Docks, etc, is now the home of a seriously kick ass concert venue. They’ve remodelled so it’s wider with a new balcony that wraps around the venue & dedicated VIP sections stage right. The new layout gives you way more room and allows easy access for photographers which is a bonus for me! The bathrooms have been revamped and the ceiling looks like it could be a landing pad for a spaceship, they couldn’t have picked a better venue.
There was an excited buzz in the air and as you walk in you can’t help but notice the two 20ft tall inflatable mushrooms situated in the crowd and LED lights hanging from the ceiling.I spot a few costumes in the crowd, unicorns, bunnies but most importantly a copious amount of feather boas, there’s no doubt about who we’re here to see. Opening for the Flaming Lips was Clipping (@clppng), an experimental Hip Hop group from LA. The group consists of producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes and probably one of the fastest rappers I’ve ever heard, Daveed Diggs. Starting off the show with a quick introduction by saying “Fuck what you’ve heard this is a Hip Hop show” and diving right into their mix of electronic dance rap. Diggs asks the crowd between songs “How many of you are on psychedelics tonight?” to which most of the crowd cheered loudly, he laughed and said we were in for a trip and he was right. I can’t speak for those that were on psychedelics, not having taken any myself but I knew what I was in for.
I had seen photographs of The Flaming Lips performing before but never in person so I couldn’t wait to experience it myself.
As the stage was prepped for their performance the usual sound, mic and monitor checks preceded with the setup of the pyrotechnics, including one that looked like a cannon, labelled “Pussy”. The lights dimmed and out from behind the shadows emerged Wayne Coyne; writer, lead vocals and guitarist of The Flaming Lips with a skinny confetti shooter in hand and a smile stretched from ear to ear. He had a wild bushel of curly hair, rocked open toed shoes, a grey suit bejeweled with stickers of flowers and tiny hearts, a giant money symbol gold chain hanging from his neck and what looked like half a human brain. His hair and outfit reminded me of Beetlejuice but with swagger and grace, almost as if he was floating across the stage. I quickly became infatuated with his essence. He shot a few more confetti shooters as the rest of the band joined him on stage.
The band had begun to play “Race for the prize” as Coyne turned to conduct them like an orchestra. Between singing the songs lyrics he continued shooting confetti into the crowd as streamers and giant inflated balloons started to fill the air. They dive into “Yoshimi battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1” next and of course you guessed it, giant inflatable robots and various other creatures joined the stage. For a moment I had lost all sense of time, every worry left my mind and I stood there and took it all in. I situated myself stage center, as the song ended someone handed Coyne giant letter balloons spelling out “Fuck Yeah Toronto” which gave everyone in the crowd a real kick.
One of the giant balloons had fallen in front of my lens and instinctively I bounced it upwards, it hit the balloon out of Coyne’s hand and he laughed, quickly grabbed the balloon and threw it back at me. That has to be the best part of a Flaming Lips concert, you never know what to expect but every experience is personal. After the song ended Coyne disappeared from the stage as the band beand to play “There Should Be Unicorns” from their new album “Oczy Mlody” an you can buy the record here. We were surprised to find him in the middle of the crowd riding a 6 foot unicorn covered in neon LED lights. He sang the whole song atop the unicorn, going through the crowd. It truly is an unforgettable experience to watch them perform. You can see their whole set list below including their amazing tribute to David Bowie with a cover of Space Oddity. Do yourself the favour and have the time of your life by watching them rock the stage live in a city near you!
