Video: The Flaming Lips Played Summerstage Last Night

The Flaming Lips – The Fear / Worm Mountain – Summerstage 2010 from Big Ass Lens on Vimeo.

The Flaming Lips played Summerstage last night and Big Ass Lens was there to catch some video. MTV.com was also there and reviewed the show. brooklynvegan has pics, too.

I have a love/hate relationship with the live show that is The Flaming Lips. On the one hand, they’ve completely revolutionized new psychedelia and they bring it to some of the largest stages in America on the regular, including a stop last night at NYC’s Summerstage. But this guy really needs to learn how to shut up and just play some music. I hereby challenge the Flaming Lips to play only songs at their next show, with no “long-weaving monologues about the nature of dreams” (via the MTV article) and how he’s angry about George W. Bush. Way to throw a bunch of unnecessary filler into a show…

My hypothesis goes something like this. The first time you’ve seen The Flaming Lips, they’re the most amazing live band you’ve ever seen in your lifetime. The second time you’ve seen the Flaming Lips, you realize that their gimmicks actually hold little up against the power of their written music, and you continually hope and wish that the front man would just shut up and play “Yoshimi” for Christ’s sake. By the third time, you’re likely willing to skip their set for another band at the festival that you haven’t seen before. Too harsh?

For the folks that made the show last night, drop some comments on your thoughts (especially if you’ve seen them before). I couldn’t even listen to one of their live shows after a few songs in; so much banter, so little music. How did it flow last night?