Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips performs at Thompson’s Point on Thursday. Photo by Robert Ker Confetti cleanup crews earned overtime this week, after the Flaming Lips brought their psychedelic circus through town for a sold-out concert at Thompson’s Point on July 25. WHAT: Flaming Lips WHERE: Thompson’s Point, Portland WHEN: Thursday, July 25 The longtime Oklahoma band boasts an impressive catalog of recorded music, extending from acid-drenched punk to indie-pop hits to experimental noisemaking, but has cemented its reputation with an extravagant live performance that continues to draw new fans after its studio output has slowed.
The concerts draw a bit from the anything-goes anarchy of Ken Kesey and the Grateful Dead’s 1960s acid tests and colorful art-happenings of Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground’s 1960s Exploding Plastic Inevitable, blending it with the fluorescent glow and sunshine ecstasy of 1990s rave culture. They combine state-of-the-art technology, like massive LED screens, with the do-it-yourself mentality that you can create a sense of wonder with confetti and balloons from a quick trip to Party City. The Lips traveled here in extended celebration of the 20th anniversary of their 2002 album “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” a concept album that – like much of their best material – filters heavy concepts of grief and perseverance with a healthy sense of awe for nature and respect for life, in this case conveyed through a very loose narrativ.
