Flaming Lips & Ween

07.23.2006

What do The Flaming Lips and Ween have in common? They both have songs on the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie soundtrack and they both played at the Greek Theater last night. Both are extremely individualistic bands, each with their own distinct style, making them a great co-headlining combo for a concert.

Opening for the two was a forgettable band, Liar (or something).

Ween took the stage first and entertained the crowd with Baby Bitch, Ocean Man and Buenos Tardes Amigo among others. I originally bought the tickets just to see Ween and even though they were awesome, I would have enjoyed them better at a smaller venue at a Ween-only show. As it happened, after I bought the tickets, they added another show, playing by themselves at a smaller venue, the Independent. This bummed me out, but not after I got to see the Flaming Lips.

The Flaming Lips put on a show complete with confetti, streamers, giant balloons and dancing girls clad in space-age mini-skirts and alien masks. To start off their set, the lead singer got into a life-sized inflatable hamster ball and rolled around in the crowd; I had never seen a stunt quite like that at a concert before. They played all their single hits including Do You Realize, She Don’t Use Jelly, and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

I must admit I was a little uneducated about each band before the concert but I had a hunch that each would put on a performance in addition to merely playing their instruments. Now that I’ve seen them live, I know their personalities much better and won’t miss them the next time they pass through town.

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