Ween & The Flaming Lips at the Berkeley Greek
Ween were great - they played a lot of their old classics and although they were a bit nervous from the beginning, they shook it off and eased into things as the night went on. I guess they were having lots of fun because apparently they played a longer set than planned so the Flaming Lips had to cut their set shorter to accomodate the curfew at the Greek. No matter, it was great to hear Buenos Tardes Amigos live.
The Flaming Lips are harder for me to figure out. I know I'm getting older so I'm sure I'm missing a lot of cultural references (I did pick up on the porkchop video above though) but it felt like I was at a really cool party where I didn't know anyone. They are so cynical and sarcastic that I'm sometimes lost as to if the crowd really believes their message (life is cruel and you're alone so it's up to you to make yourself happy) or if they understand that it's really just a big joke on how screwed up we've made things.
The mix was a little muddy so it was hard to make out the vocals but with all the stuff going on in the audience (guys in space blankets with strobes attached to their heads) and on stage (teletubby videos, close up shots of the lead singers bad teeth) it was hard to go wrong. Whenever a little boost of energy was needed, the lead singer, Wayne, would pop off a cool little pipe gun that would shower the crowd with streamers. It was kind of bummer to see Wayne pretending to play guitar as a prop but as soon as I sat back and realized that the Lips are more like a psychadelic opera than a musical concert, than the show fell into place. If you get a chance, it's worth checking these guys out - I'm sure they put on a truly unique show anywhere but at the Berkeley Greek in July, under the stars, it's magical.
There's a good writeup on the Lips on rollingstone.com. Okies from Outer Space
I took some photos but someone named "fetching" uploaded some amazing shots from the same show.
