Between the massive Country, Bluegrass, and Americana acts stopping in Lubbock during their tours, there always lies a few outliers who put on a show for the Hub City. When The Flaming Lips announced that they would be stopping in Lubbock during their 2024 Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots tour, the indie heads of the 806 were extremely excited to see them perform their massive production at The Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences.
When the tour was announced, it was mentioned that the band would perform the entirety of Yoshimi for the concert, and I was hooked. The 22-year-old album is still remarkable and a beautiful psychedelic concept album of the 21st century. It still feels ambitious, and I was excited to see how it would translate live.
Upon arrival, I was told this would be the first stop during the tour that utilized the “light trees”, and at that point, I was not sure what to expect from a Flaming Lips show. As I entered the main hall, I noticed that this was the first time I had come to a show at Buddy Holly Hall where the smoke machine was pumping more than 30 minutes before show time. A huge LED screen sat on stage with tons of light rigs, cannons, and other surprises. Every inch of real estate on stage looked to be utilized in the production.
With no openers, The Flaming Lips started at about 8:15 PM with Flight Test, the first song on Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. Every single lyric from the song is displayed on the LED screen like a glorified Disney sing-along production. Huge inflatable pink robots rose from the ground to add to the spectacle the band was putting together. Between songs, Wayne Coyne would briefly chat with the crowd and throw in some quippy one-liners. Between the huge inflatable balloons thrown around the crowd, the lights, the drones, the lasters, and more, I was extremely impressed with how much energy went into making the stage performance as insane as the music.
The band continued performing the entirety of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots including Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell and the classic Do You Realize?? which sounded incredible live. The entire album was performed extremely well with the visual elements adding to the immersion. Following the performance of Yoshimi, the band took a brief break before the second set. Between the sets, I talked with concertgoers who spoke about how incredible the opening set was.
The second set included numerous cuts spanning their discography including 6 songs from their classic album The Soft Bulletin which turned 35 the following day after the show. Excerpts included Race for the Prize and Waitin’ for a Superman. While wearing a flower costume, Wayne Coyne and the band performed Flowers of Neptune 6 off their most recent LP American Head. It was a great collection of their best songs outside of Yoshimi including Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung from At War With the Mystics and She Don’t Use Jelly from Transmissions From the Satellite Heart.
Sadly, the band did not pull any songs from Yo Gabba Gabba, Ender’s Game, or The Spongebob Squarepants Movie which were my earliest discoveries of the band, but regardless of them not pandering to my silly self, they put on a great show.
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