The Flaming Lips’ live show is much more of a Vegas spectacle than a down ‘n’ dirty rock performance, so it’s a bit of a surprise to believe the band will play the intimate Belly Up in Aspen on Monday. (The band’s last Colorado show took place at Red Rocks.) Such rarities come at high costs: $145 for general admission and $500 for reserved seating. Though if you ask the Denver band Vitamins, which will open, you can’t put a price on such an opportunity. Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne was spotted in a Bluebird Theater audience earlier this month, where he met Vitamins drummer Crawford Philleo, a former contributor to Reverb, The Denver Post’s music site. The two got along famously — so famously, in fact, that a few days after drinks and art-making at Gabor’s later that night, Vitamins was officially added to the ever-exclusive holiday bill. A Christmas miracle? Nah, just Coyne living up to his over-the-top, eccentric persona, and maybe a little bit of fate. Tickets at .
STS9 is one of nearly a dozen bands in town next week competing for your attention on New Year’s Eve. Like fellow jam titans Widespread Panic and Railroad Earth, STS9 will settle in for a three-day stand beginning Wednesday night at the Fillmore Auditorium. The SoCal quintet has a loyal following among the electronica crowd in Colorado, one of the state’s most viral scenes in recent years. You know what to expect: trippy grooves, a visually delicious light show and rumbling bass lines. Tickets, $50 for the first two nights and $89.75 for New Year’s Eve, are available through .
John Hendrickson: 303-954-1785 or jhendrickson@denverpost.com
