It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: there is nothing quite like a Flaming Lips show. It’s an experience that many have with mouth agape as this type of sensory-overloaded spectacle is not an everyday occurrence. When The Flaming Lips stopped in Raleigh, North Carolina on Wednesday night, the last stop of their 12-show North American summer tour, you bet they brought with them their laser hands, confetti, inflatable robots and rainbows, oversized balloons, and more colored lights than you can imagine.

The Flaming Lips delivered a memorable set, including many of their classics such as The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1 and a Do You Realize? encore. Having recently released their 15th studio album, King’s Mouth, I expected to hear a couple new songs in their rotation but they only played one song off the new album, Feedaloodum Beedle Dot.

Joining The Flaming Lips on tour was The Lennon Claypool Delirium, led by Sean Lennon and Les Claypool, who played a variety of songs from their two studio albums, Monolith of Phobos (2016) and South of Reality (2019), in addition to some notable covers such as The Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson, Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles, and Astronomy Domine by Pink Floyd.

Particle Kid, the musical project by Micah Nelson, kicked off the evening with a powerful set, which included bringing out Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips for a pretty epic cover of Pyramid Song by Radiohead.


Maddie Matthews

Maddie Matthews

Madelyn is a Live Music Photographer based in Raleigh, North Carolina.