Lights! Lasers! Robots! The Flaming Lips Live In Cedar Rapids

It was a chaotic day for a concert, with the show originally being scheduled outdoors at McGrath Amphitheatre before being moved indoors at Alliant Energy PowerHouse due to potential severe weather. And boy, did severe weather arrive! Two hours before the show began, we had multiple confirmed tornadoes in the county and within city limits. But like a miracle, it all stopped before the show and those projected storms never arrived and the people braved potential danger to come see the Flaming Lips live in the new venue.

The crowd gathered for a 3 hour bonanza featuring only the Flaming Lips. The first hour and a half was a special performance of their highly acclaimed 2002 album Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. The first part was marked with Pink Robot shaped confetti falling from the Heavens, giant balloons, and even larger, inflatable Pink Robots invading the stage ready to do battle with the titular character himself. The crowd was singing & cheering to their favorite tunes from being performed by Wayne Coyne and the gang. 

As the first half neared it’s end, with an amped up crowd for the song Do You Realize?? & those damn Pink Robots invading the stage again, the band & crowd a brief intermission so no one would have to miss the rest of the fun about to begin. The latter half of the show was filled with a more typical set of songs from the Flaming Lips & the energy was high throughout the show with Wayne keeping the energy levels up in between songs & costume changes. A personal highlight of mine was Wayne coming out dressed as a flower declaring “I look like a flower”. The Lips continued to play some of their hits, closing out the performance with Suddenly Everything Has Changed. But the crowd demanded more, & the band was willing to provide. The encore started off with My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion & a robo-bird that Wayne was hoping would mimic a 2006 event where it would fly around like the Mk 1 version of the bird and make it’s way back into Zach’s hands. Sadly, the bird had other plans and kept landing in the crowd. After some laughs, the band brought on the encore & a healthy dose of confetti for the crowd. But all good things have to come to an end, and the band marked it with their usual balloon, but this time with a hilarious mistake. The balloon read Fuck Cedar Rapids instead of the typical Fuck Yeah because the ‘Yeah’ failed to inflate. And like all of us Cedar Rapidians, we laughed at the unspoken shared sentiment amongst most of our peers.For those of you that missed out on the party, I’ve got some good news for you, below are the images I captured of the night for your enjoyment. I’m very certain this won’t be the last time the Flaming Lips graces our city, and for any readers that have never been a big fan of the Flaming Lips like me, or are not a big concert goer; well I can safely recommend a Flaming Lips show as a great experience to share with the others around you.

The Flaming Lips

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