The Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse leave no stone unturned in Philadelphia

Wayne Coyne

Written and Photographed by Dan Scott :

Few bands are able to really blow me away with their live performances, but having seen hundreds of concerts over the years, both Modest Mouse and The Flaming Lips are up there in my personal “Top 10 concerts of all time” list. So, when I heard that the two of them were coming to Philadelphia together, I immediately knew I had to attend… and I was sure it would be a night to remember. Boy, was I right…

Indie rock duo Friko (of Chicago) opened the show. I was not familiar with their music prior to the event, but I must say that I was delightfully impressed. Their songs were very unique, with lots of unexpected twists and turns that kept me on my toes. I honestly don’t often expect very much from opening bands, but once in a while I’ll catch an opener that sticks, and Friko certainly did not disappoint!

After a rather speedy and carefully executed changeup of the stage gear, Modest Mouse began their set with the global mega-hit “Float On,” which encompassed a palpable attitude of “let’s get this one out of the way” from front man Isaac Brock. Although they performed it wonderfully, I got the vibe that Isaac doesn’t love doing that song, but is somewhat “required” to, due to its popularity. From there, the band veered into the rest of their set, which included numbers from all decades of their extensive catalogue. A few late-’90s era personal favorites (“Paper Thin Walls” and “Cowboy Dan”) appeared early in the set, immediately thrusting me back to middle school days of hearing their music for the first time. Continuing onward, they would ebb and flow artfully from new material to old classics, gradually sprinkling in some other fan favorites, including “Lampshades on Fire” and “Dashboard.”

Modest Mouse

Eventually reaching the end of their performance, Modest Mouse took us back to the ’90s again with “Teeth Like God’s Shoeshine,” before finishing out the night with a fantastic, emotional delivery of “The World at Large.” As Brock sang the lyrics, the crowd was noticeably moved by the poeticism, with each word feeling more relatable than the last.

Now it was time for The Flaming Lips! The lights in the amphitheater dimmed as band members took the stage to the growing buzz of crickets and cicadas, though these were not actual bug noises drifting through the warm summer evening breeze. Any real Lips fan knew exactly what was happening, as a lone synthesizer began to play and the band began their set with the nature SFX-laden “Sleeping on the Roof” from their 1999 record The Soft Bulletin. This fully instrumental song set the tone for the beginning of the night, and as they reached the end, singer Wayne Coyne meandered onto the stage with his uplifting, energetic aura that is contagious even from great distances. His arrival was met with loud cries of enthusiasm from the depths of the venue.

The front man did not appear on stage by himself, though. Instead, he was accompanied by a team of production assistants, locked and loaded with gigantic inflatable stage props that began to rise upwards until there were suddenly four gigantic pink dancing robots towering nearly 20 feet above the pit. With this exciting addition to the stage, the band appropriately jumped right into “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 and 2.” With no shortage of performative accessories, Wayne floated around the stage, weaving in and out of the legs of the inflatable robots as reflective streamers rained down from the rafters and confetti cannons created a snowstorm of falling paper. Coyne even rushed around the stage with handheld confetti guns, firing them excitedly into the audience. The psychedelic immersion created by the confetti, the lights and lasers, and of course—their music—let me know we were off to a great start for what would surely be an incredible set from perhaps the most theatrically over-the-top band that’s ever existed.

The middle of the set moved through various eras of the Lips’ catalogue, including a truly epic version of “Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung” with a light show that lit up the entire venue. The impressive visuals continued on as the band performed a 35-year-old song, “Five Stop Mother Superior Rain,” which, according to Coyne, was only their fourth time ever playing it live. Giant lyrics flashed across the backdrop screen as Coyne sang out “you’re fucked if you do, and you’re fucked if you don’t!”

After a very cool cover of The Chemical Brothers’ “The Golden Path,” Coyne informed the audience that they were going to do a sad song, but emphasized how that doesn’t mean it should make everybody feel sadness—but rather, feel the love and optimism that can grow out of life’s difficulties. As the band began “Waitin’ for a Superman,” I could feel the tears of joy and despair creeping up simultaneously. The Lips have an uncanny knack for being able to make me (and many others) experience feelings of sadness and happiness at the exact same time—which is no easy feat! Having lost a very close friend just days before the show, Coyne’s vocals really hit home on a deeper level, right to the core of my being, as he sang “Tell everybody waitin’ for Superman that they should try to hold on the best they can… he hasn’t dropped them, forgot them, or anything… it’s just too heavy for Superman to lift.”

Taking things back to a more celebratory note, the Lips brought out more and more various inflatable items and other stage props as they partied their way through two old fan favorites, “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” (which was ripe with lasers, streamers, and other theatrics) and “She Don’t Use Jelly,” both of which birthed a thunderous roar of the audience singing along in excitement.

Finally, the Lips closed out their set with an incredibly emotionally charged version of their iconic tune “Do You Realize?” that took us all on a deep journey with its uplifting key modulations and deeply personal lyrics. As the confetti cannons and smoke machines revved up to complete the song, the band left the stage… but we all knew they’d be back. Just a few minutes later, they returned to their positions, this time with Modest Mouse front man Isaac Brock. After making a lovely tribute to the recently departed Ozzy Osbourne, the group (including guest vocals from Brock) launched into a rip-roaring cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” that would have surely made the Prince of Darkness himself very proud. The entire audience lost their minds as every single person in the venue jumped to their feet in ecstatic screams and applause. Aside from the through-the-roof energy and the obvious tribute to a rock legend, I was delightfully impressed with how well they nailed Tony Iommi’s iconic guitar tone—one that any music gear nerd knows is quite difficult to accomplish.

Wayne Coyne

After completing their Sabbath cover, the band treated us all to one last triumphant encore—“Race for the Prize.” The stage theatrics all made a return, with dazzling light design, inflatable objects, and even more smoke and confetti to add the cherry on top of the performance that was dripping in psychedelia from start to finish.

Going into this show, I knew it would be incredible… and I left that evening thoroughly satisfied, even beyond my high expectations. All I can say is that anyone who has yet to catch a Lips show… well, you absolutely need to see it to believe it.