How is this band not mega famous?

On Tuesday night I was fortunate enough to see the Flaming Lips at the Walker, er, I mean Burton Cummings Theater. With hardly any knowledge of their music, I purchased a ticket simply because I have heard that their live show was simply amazing.
Of the 14 songs they played that night, I was familiar with about one and a half of them.
First of all, it was very interesting to see the band basically setting up their own gear and even do their own sound check. It's not that they didn't have the roadies to do it, they had about four of them from what I was able to count. These same roadies became very involved in the show, from moving the odd assortment of props on the stage, to providing front man Wayne Coyne with a large crash cymbal whenever needed, to swapping out instruments like congas, guitars, and keyboards for the various multi-instrumentalists in the band.
From the first song on, there was a barrage of confetti that filled the area in the venue, and Coyne had these small tubular like confetti cannons that he kept firing off, one after another. Dry ice fog permeated the air from the number of emulsion devices that the band possessed on stage. Beach ball type balloons were bouncing on top of the crowd. Coyne entered a giant bubble and walked on top of the sea of onlookers as well. At times I was unable to see the band, which was a tactic that they used to change instruments and mood between sections of songs to keep the surprise factor high.
Coyne's ability to communicate with the audience in slightly rambling, yet vivid and profound clarity was exceptional. As I looked around, I could see people hanging on to every word he said. He spoke of love lost and found with the softest of poetic touch.
The fact that they had a video screen that must have been three stories high in a room as small as the Walker (there I go again)is quite astounding. The images they displayed were mesmerizing, pure psychedelia.
I realize that bands need to sell millions of records to become household names, and the Flaming Lips haven't. However, we are now in an age of music where a band's live show is becoming more and more important, and the Flaming Lips' live show certainly topped the charts for me. I recommend that you go see this band! You will not be disappointed.
My Tuesday night Flaming Lips experience was truly legendary. Check out a shot of them performing Do you realize at Berkfest.



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