Photos by Nathan Poppe
When people give you a heads up that a unicorn is going to get wheeled throughout a concert crowd, it doesn’t actually sink in until you’re standing in the way of the glowing, horse-sized creature. Confetti, balloons and a Griswold family christmas amount of lights accompany most Flaming Lips shows but there’s always a surprise, too.
Lips frontman Wayne Coyne parted the crowd while mounting the mythical creature. He zig zagged through fans and between two giant mushrooms that stood near the back of the venue. In between the theatrics, I noticed a more focused and musical concert experience. Coyne spoke less between songs and transitioned between tracks with a quicker pace.
He’s prone to make speeches but perhaps the addition of two more auxiliary members, Nic Ley and Matt Duckworth, have streamlined the live experience. Either way, a giant unicorn was parked in front of the door to my camera gear, but it’s hard to be mad at something blanketed in rainbows.
You can see all my photos from that night here.
