Latest news with #FlamingLips'
Irish Examiner
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
The Flaming Lips review: Wayne Coyne and co hit the heights for brilliant gig at Olympia, Dublin
The Flaming Lips, Olympia, Dublin, ★★★★★ Before they even start, Flaming Lips' sharp-suited front man Wayne Coyne bounds from the wings of the Olympia stage to halt the PA playing Thin Lizzy so he can tell a story. He and his siblings used to sing 'The Coynes are back in town' during the 1970s, and could we try that tonight? The song rewinds, the crowd roar his family's name, and Coyne is already claiming this as 'one of the greatest gigs we're ever gonna play'. The Lips – five of them including Mr Wayne – open with Flight Test from 2002's swirling pop masterwork Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, played in its entirety for this first set. It's hardly begun before the Olympia is a blizzard of monster-shaped confetti, the hypnotic digital backdrop is in full effect (pleasingly, a stagehand has to tap it the odd time to banish gremlins), and two giant pink robots from the album cover are inflated. Coyne's prediction has already proven prescient. He's delighted to be here and why wouldn't he with a band as remarkable as this? They finesse sounds out of keyboards and guitars – and gorgeous pedal steel - that seem drawn from another realm but are anchored to this one by Tommy McKenzie's rubbery bass and the double bass drum heft of Matt Duckworth Kirksey, who looks like John Bonham in a pink wig at a kid's party. Flaming Lips at the Olympia. Massive confetti-filled balloons float over the congregation, adding to the pandemonium when they burst, and the lighting rigs either side of Coyne employ lasers that wouldn't have shamed The Who in their pomp. 'Audiences often sound like drunk uncles but you guys can sing,' Wayne marvels after his vocals are eclipsed by the ecstatic throng's commandeering of Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell. An enormous, light-refracting mirrorball is wheeled on only to be replaced by a floppy rainbow arch for a deeply moving Do You Realize?? Either there was something in the tea that nice man in the wizard outfit gave me or this really is one of the greatest gigs ever. The second half is a best of The Lips celebration including cuts from 1999's spectacular symphonic skyscraper The Soft Bulletin. More balloons fly through She Don't Use Jelly, Coyne dons Peter Gabriel's old flower-head rigout for Flowers Of Neptune 6 and then sports a Wonder Woman muumuu (really) during a superb Waiting For Superman. There are roadies dressed as the sun, as aliens covered in tinsel, then as two oversized dancing eyeballs. The Lips finish with a Race For The Prize which reminds at least one tired hack why he fell so hard for this rock'n'roll stuff in the first place. A joyous, life-affirming, euphoric, and truly psychedelic experience.
Times
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The Flaming Lips review — five-star show from the Oklahoma surrealists
★★★★★As much fun as the mad professor was having — darting between the legs of three gigantic inflatable pink robots, flinging out man-sized balloons and firing off streamer guns amid flumes of confetti — he did spare a thought for the more baffled at the Brixton Academy in London. 'If you didn't know what you were in for, you're probably thinking, 'What the f*** is going on?'' said Wayne Coyne, introducing a full run through the Flaming Lips' celebrated 2002 space pop opus Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, in which a black belt Japanese office worker fights off an invasion of man-eating hellbots. It's among the Lips' best-loved albums thanks to its folding of pop hooks, folk textures and mainstream electronics into their
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jessica Simpson Just Took the Stage for the First Time in 15 Years
When a singer steps away from the stage, a comeback isn't always guaranteed. But Jessica Simpson? She just made hers happen. On Wednesday, March 12, the 43-year-old pop star returned to live performing at South by Southwest's Recording Academy Block Party in Austin, Texas — marking her first time singing in front of a crowd in over a decade. More from Spin: Jessica Simpson Seemed a Little… Off During Her Home Shopping Network Gig Flaming Lips' Xmas Fetus, Metallica's 'Death Vagina' DJ AM to Host MTV Intervention Show 'I'm about to take the stage for the first time in 15 years,' Simpson said in a video posted to her Instagram Story before the show. 'I'm very excited. I'm blessed to be here. I think it's gonna go good, I hope!' Once onstage, the 'Take My Breath Away' singer made it clear why this moment mattered. 'This time I needed to remember who I was and why I wanted to sing in the first place and all the music that inspires me,' she told the crowd. 'And I needed to forget who they told me to be.' Simpson's setlist was a mix of old favorites and new material. She performed her signature cover of 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin'' and 'Son of a Preacher Man' alongside fresh tracks like 'Breadcrumbs' and 'Leave' — both from her upcoming EP Nashville Canyon: Part 1, out Monday, March 21. Fan footage of the performance quickly made the rounds online, and the internet had plenty to say. 'Jessica Simpson will have an amazing comeback. It's her season! ,' one fan commented on TikTok. 'You can tell she's so happy to be back on stage ,' another added. 'That stage has probably missed Jessica's energy,' someone else wrote. The former MTV star's return to the stage comes amid major changes in her personal life. In January, she announced her separation from Eric Johnson after 10 years of marriage, revealing they had been living apart while navigating a 'painful situation.' The former couple share three children — Maxwell, 12, Ace, 11, and Birdie, 5. To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.
