...in your dreams; show no mercy

Chicago's favorite Oklahomans return this evening for a confetti-filled freak-fest. The Flaming Lips are poised to bring their unique brand of psychedelia to the Aragon Ballroom and rumor has it, they brought their UFO.
Do you ever get the feeling that you have something on your head -- viz. sunglasses, headphones, etc. -- but you definitely took them off?
I have that feeling right now, but I am looking at my shades as they sit on my desk. I can't help but think this mental lapse is in anticipation of tonight's show. Their stage-show has been pretty much the same for the past 5 years and they ditched the animal costumes for aliens and Santa suits, but a Flaming Lips concert is still unlike anything else. Wayne Coyne's interactions with the crowd are unparalleled and the whole event is about entertaining and stimulating the fans.
They are a children's band for kids on acid -- replete with sing-alongs and feed back -- an audio-visual mind trip with a 2-hour peak. If not for the confetti in your eye and your sweat-soaked t-shirt, you'd swear it is a really wonderful, if weird, dream.
When the house lights come on, the shit-eating-grins will be abundant; however many people in attendance, trying to figure out exactly what they were just a part of.

download: the flaming lips - kim's watermelon gun
download: the flaming lips - the sound of failure

that's our old friend mike biondi getting his juices flowing over tonight's lips show...the first of many happenings going on in chicago over the next week that are sure to drain my mind as well as my wallet...tomorrow in particular, the place to be is the 11th annual hideout block party, featuring sets by dan deacon & andrew bird, among others...always a good time.

download: dan deacon - snake mistakes

download: andrew bird - plasticities

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related: soundtrack junkies that they are, the flaming lips have offered up two new songs for the heartbreak kid, an unnecessary remake of the great 1972 charles grodin film of the same name.

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RELATED pt. 2: Flaming Lips and Cold War Kids play a free show at Willow Island in Madison - Saturday 6pm - 10pm. (-dg)

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www.flaminglips.com