Any band can tell you that being a headliner for any concert, much less a music festival featuring multiple artists, is a huge deal. Especially in a city as artfully diverse as Dallas, each band wants to create an experience that will stand out among others. One band that embraces its unique qualities is the Flaming Lips. With modest beginnings in Norman, Oklahoma in 1983, it is inspiring to see how successful these artists have been not only in the United States, but the U.K. and Europe too. The five current members Wayne Coyne, Michael Ivins, Steven Drozd, Kliph Scurlock, Derek Brown have come together to create an eclectic sound enjoyed by many.
With too many EPs, singles, vinyl records to count, The Lips have released around thirteen studio albums. Other forms of release include twelve part pieces, intended to be played simultaneously on YouTube, or a microchip embedded in the gummy brain of a seven pound gummy skull on limited release. Yes, I said gummy skull. Seven pounds of it. These guys don’t mess around. That almost makes the 24 hour and six hour-long songs released in 2011 seem tame. Almost.
The Flaming Lips have been nominated for six Grammy’s, and won three out of the six. Many of their songs have been featured in movies, such as Spiderman 3, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, The Heartbreak Kid, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, and a few others. In 2008, The Flaming Lips released an indie movie of their own, written, directed and filmed by the band and their friends and family. They played the movie at various rock festivals during the summer of 2008 before it was released on DVD in the fall.
June 1, the Flaming Lips will headline at Gexa Energy Pavilion as part of KXT’s Summer Cut Happy Funtime Fest. Get more information and your tickets at kxt.org/summercut. See for yourself the show that this band presents, including balloons, lights, and a human sized plastic ball. No, I wouldn’t want to miss that either.
Find out more about the Flaming Lips here www.flaminglips.com
