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Live:
Flaming Lips + British Sea Power @ Nottingham Rock City Mon 20th
Jan 03
“Don’t mention the war”
clearly isn’t a saying British Sea Power believe in. Whilst a rolling backdrop
plays behind a stage full of leaves and foliage (even an owl’s here), showing
scenes from an old colour film of a fighter pilots last moments, enter BSP,
dressed in old 1940’s style army uniforms, one of them even wearing a blue tin
hat! Now and again during the set the guy with the hat would lift up a huge
drum with a maniacal grin on his face and bang it around, at one point even
wandering off into the audience with it! With loud guitars, unusual sounds and
vocal stretches BSP in just five songs (including a cracking version of The
Spirit of St Louis) won over the audience with their unusual brand of twisted
rock.
Imagine you’re five and at a
huge party – that’s how you feel at a Flaming Lips gig. Even the stage was
dressed for the occasion, complete with two huge glitter balls. The band come
on stage, all but the singer Wayne Coyne dressed as a furry animal, the audience
erupts and lots of huge balloons are cast into the crowd; the party has begun!
Bang! Straight away they launch into ‘Race for the Prize’. Wayne, proving he’s
just a big kid at heart, with a huge grin on his face begins throwing handfuls
of confetti into the audience and swinging coloured lights above his head! Like
a mad hatter conductor, he directs the proceedings, playing up to the audience.
With each song he has a different toy to play with, from spinning lights, to fog
machines, to strobe lights, even a megaphone that he sings through for one
song! And when he wasn’t playing with the toys he’d childishly play with the
balloons, batting them back into the audience or throwing them up into the air
and bursting them on his guitar strings! Everything was here, the fake blood,
and even Santa who was just “hanging out” at the back! Playing songs mostly off
the ‘Yoshimi…’ album they squeezed in a few older songs too, including ‘She
Don’t Use Jelly’. Throughout the whole show everyone had a huge smile on their
face, the Lips had spread their love, cast their magic. The perfect antidote to
today’s modern life.
Austin Booth |
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