Photo of the Flaming Lips by Blake Studdard/Atria Creative
The Flaming Lips | 06.14.23, 8:30 PM | 750 Casino Center Dr, Maryland Heights | All ages | $34-66
This Wednesday, psychedelic pop troubadours the Flaming Lips will bring the second leg of their 2023 tour to Saint Louis Music Park. The band is celebrating the 20th anniversary of their landmark album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and will be performing it in its entirety on the current tour.
Released on July 16th, 2002, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, the band’s tenth studio album overall, was in many ways a continuation of the lush, spacy, psychedelic pop formula debuted on their previous album, 1999’s The Soft Bulletin. What largely distinguished Pink Robots from its predecessor was the strength of its songwriting and storytelling, with the first half of the album exploring existential themes of artificial intelligence and humanity’s relationship with technology, represented through the titular Yoshimi’s battle against the nefarious Pink Robots. The album was named in tribute to Yoshimi P-We, drummer for the Japanese experimental rock band Boredoms, whose vocals appear throughout Pink Robots. The thematic undercurrent of Pink Robots has caused many critics to label it as a concept album over the years, a label that the band itself rejects (that said, Lips frontman Wayne Coyne did later expand the album into a Broadway musical loosely based on the album’s themes).
Pink Robots went on to become the band’s most critically and commercially successful album, and is their first and only record to achieve gold certification from the RIAA (i.e., over 500,000 units sold). The album’s success led to the group receiving their first Grammy Award, with the closing track of the album, “Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia),” winning Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 2003. The album’s signature track, “Do You Realize??”, remains the group’s best-known song and their de facto set closer; it even enjoyed a four-year stint as the official rock song of the band’s home state of Oklahoma, although this designation was later retracted.
The Lips have a long history of playing St. Louis, beginning with a 1987 show at Mississippi Nights. Notably, they performed at the Maryland Heights Amphitheatre for Lollapalooza 1994. They were also one of the headlining acts at LouFest 2012, and they performed a free concert at the grounds of the Gateway Arch as part of Fair St. Louis 2019. They have also played the Pageant many times over the years, most recently in April 2022.
Although there is no opening act for their upcoming performance at Music Park, the band will play two full sets, first performing Pink Robots in its entirety, then performing an encore featuring classic songs from the rest of their discography, such as “She Don’t Use Jelly” and “Race for the Prize.” The group’s live performances are known for their theatricality and extensive use of props, often featuring frontman Wayne Coyne crowd surfing in a giant hamster ball and breaking out laser-shooting prop hands. Fans sporting homemade Pink Robot costumes are a common sight at Lips shows as well. | David Von Nordheim
The Flaming Lips 2023 on tour:
6.13.23: Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theater
06.14.23: St. Louis, MO @ Music Park
06.16.23: Omaha, NE @ Steelhouse
06.17.23: Tulsa, OK @ Tulsa Theater
08.18.23: Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater
08.22.23: Portland, OR @ Pioneer Courthouse Square
08.23.23: Seattle, WA @ Woodland Park Zoo
08.25.23: Bonner, MT @ KettleHouse Amphitheatre
All dates feature a full performance of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
