Words by Amy McGrath
Itap unclear whether folks in Kansas City realize how lucky they were, but Jack White and Wayne Coyne brought a serious party to them this weekend.
and , along with White Rabbits, Minus the Bear, The Ettes and Stardeath and White Dwarfs, played a mini-festival on Friday to kick off the summer season at in Bonner Springs, just a few miles outside of Kansas City. In what might be attributed to yet another example of Flaming Lips magic, the skies cleared and the sun shone brightly after several days of major league spring thundershowers.
The Dead Weather seemed a little out of place in the state fair-like atmosphere they found themselves in, but once the sun went down, they turned back into their own wicked selves. Lead singer Alison Mosshart growled, grimaced and slithered around the stage evoking the Lizard King himself. Jack White sang, pounded the drums (twirling his sticks a la Tommy Lee), played guitar, and contributed his usual dose of blues-man showmanship to the affair. The band put in a 90-minute set of sexy, heavy blues jams and Zeppelin-inspired classic metal riffs.
It takes forever for the Flaming Lips to set up their stage before they play, but the show that follows is generally worth the wait. Friday nightap show began with the theater we’ve come to expect from the Lips: Wayne Coyne getting in touch with the audience (literally) by crowd surfing in his over-sized hamster ball, tons of confetti, and the dazzling video screen that features a wide array of psychedelic imagery (much of it vaginal). But the Lips have gone in a new direction on their latest album “Embryonic,” and their live show has followed suit.
Their set was heavy with new, interesting material, and it featured more playing instruments and less screwing around between songs than has become habit for them over the last few years. They still played the essential Flaming Lips hits that many fans demand: Acoustic versions of “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” and “She Don’t Use Jelly,” as well as the jingly “Yeah Yeah Yeah Song.” This was no greatest-hits show, however, and there was also a powerful sense of musical excitement from the band as they explored newer, even weirder territories like “I Can Be a Frog,” “Silver Trembling Hands” and “Convinced of the Hex.”
The warm, pleasant night wrapped up with two encores — “Dark Side of the Moon” covers “Brain Damage” and “Eclipse,” featuring their fellow OKC buddies Star Death and White Dwarves, and finally the song they really, really have to play, “Do You Realize?,” sending their tired, happy crowd to the parking lots with giant grins and heads full of confetti.
The Flaming Lips and Jack White circus moved out at midnight. The thunderstorms rolled back in shortly thereafter, naturally.
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Michael McGrath is a Denver area photographer. His work is available at . Visit .
