Showers of Confetti

Last night I witnessed what can only be called the greatest thing that has ever happened to Birmingham, Alabama. The event occurred at the City Stages music festival in downtown Birmingham. The culprits were a group of people that call themselves The Flaming Lips. Now, if you haven't heard of them by now, it may be too late. Get to the nearest record store and buy three copies of each album.

The set included: a huge screen playing interesting video montages, a huge gong, strobe lights, and myriad teletubbies (yes, teletubbies). Lead singer, Wayne Coyne, possessed a megaphone that emitted a cloud of smoke into the audience. Not to mention he entered the stage in a massive bubble-ball and proceeded to crawl across a sea of inebriated adolescents whose parents were probably somewhere else in the crowd taking mushrooms. In addition to all of this, huge machines shot hundreds of pounds of confetti into the air throughout the show. Giant balloons filled with confetti traveled across the mass of deranged concert-goers before exploding like a paper-mache bomb. Before the show, their crew gave out hundreds of glow sticks which created a short-lived, mass hysteria. The purpose of the glow sticks wasn't made apparent until about halfway through the set when Coyne demanded that after the next song every glow stick should be thrown directly at him. As the song ended, anticipation built until finally the go-ahead was given, and a shower of fluorescence magnetically gravitated toward the stage.

They played what I would call a "greatest hits" concert. I can only assume that since they have never played in Birmingham, they decided to play their most popular songs to keep the audience engrossed. Their setlist included: The W.A.N.D., Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt.1, Race for the Prize, and Fight Test. Coyne urged the crowd to sing along throughout the show, and many did. Although I've never been a fan of people that sing in concerts, it seemed almost sinful not to join in the bliss that came from synching my words with those of Mr. Coyne.

In summation, the only word I can use to describe this concert is ecstasy (which is ironic considering a kid was carried out near me after an apparent interaction with the drug). The word "concert" just doesn't do justice here. I've been to dozens of concerts and this was like nothing I have ever experienced. It was like an acid trip without the acid. Which makes The Flaming Lips my new favorite drug.