Flaming Lips smack into Detroit

By Andrew Seifter

For the Daily

The Flaming Lips want you to spend your Friday the 13th with them. Back

in Detroit supporting last year's unforgettable The Soft Bulletin, these

rock veterans are planning to bring Halloween a bit early this year-on the

year's second spookiest day.

Back in America after recording a cover of 'White Christmas' for a London

radio station, the Flaming Lips realized that they were in the holiday

spirit, but they were a few holidays ahead of themselves. Turning their

attention to the spookiness of October, the band are now ready to bring

the Halloween spirit to the Majestic Theater this evening.

Known for their elaborate theatrical performances at past concerts, the

band will likely be on top form on a day that is deserving of their mad

in-show antics. Past shows have sometimes seemed more like Greek

tragedies or bizarre science experiments than rock concerts, indicating

that you can expect this show to be a Halloween party worth catching.

However, rather than attempting to scare you into retreat, the Flaming

Lips will attempt to increase the interaction between the band and the

fans. Bassist Michael Ivins explains that their goal is to create a

"carnival atmosphereto get the audience clapping and yelling." The band

has asked all its fans to dress up to the shows on this US tour, and Ivins

revealed that the band have some spare costumes if people forget to bring

theirs. He also hinted that some fans may be required to "get up on

stage" with them during the show.

Although Ivins and singer Wayne Coyne have been working together for

almost twenty years, this tour may be the best time to see the band live

yet. The Soft Bulletin has received enormous critical acclaim worldwide,

and the innovation of the album should translate well onto the stage. The

Flaming Lips haven't received this much attention since "She Don't Use

Jelly" was embraced by MTV in 1994, but when it comes to success the band

tries to "keep an even keel on the whole thing."

Ivins believes that rock stardom is not the "natural state" and the band

prefer to focus on the magical ability of music to "emotionally touch" the

listener. The Flaming Lips have always been very conceptual, and they

admit to being "in love with the idea of ideasand the bizarre stuff in

everyday life." Expect nothing less than a glimpse of this bizarre world

tonight at the Majestic.