Beck and the Flips in Vegas!

[mocool12]

last night! what an amazing show! holy crap. well, i first showed up at the hard rock hotel at around 6 I think. I expected there to be a bunch of people in line, but there was only three!!! oh yeah, it was my first time going to a concert alone, so i was kind of nervous, but i made friends w/ the people in front of me.. they were really nice. so anyway, finally they let us in and we speed walk to front row center only to find that there is no barrier?! I couldn?t believe it? I?d never been to a concert (well a big name one) that didn?t have one. so we were right up against the stage. and it was so cool b/c a few members of the Flaming Lips were just walking around on stage, setting stuff up, so they?re like talking to people in the crowd and so forth.. they are so friendly. then it?s time for them to start! they were showing this hilarious amateur wrestling video on a screen behind them before they came out.. yes. so they come out and everyone is going crazy and aaahh damn.. it was great. i got so into their set. they had all the people in animal costumes dancing on stage w/ flashlights? and Wayne would throw handfuls of confetti on everyone and spray the rest of the band w/ a fog machine? Oh and there were these huge orange balloons that they tossed into the crowd at the beginning and Wayne kept popping them w/ the end of his guitar. you?d best believe i kept a piece of popped balloon. ah and dang.. i don?t remember during which song it was, but he wore a huge strobe-light thing around his neck and kept tossing confetti and shining the light on it. it rocked. Some of the video they were playing was of this Japanese movie w/ this apocalyptic world w/ this schoolgirl.. it was crazy. Every song was awesome! Fight Test, Lightning Strikes the Postman, Race for the Prize just freaking rocked, Do You Realize was great.. same w/ Spoonful. They were just so amazing. i don?t know.. they are such a cool, laid-back, incredibly creative band and they put on such a great show! I wish their set could?ve been longer, but ah well. Man i hope i can see them again soon.

i don?t have an official set list yet, but here?s what I remember. i think it?s right?

Race For The Prize
Fight Test
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part 1
Lightning Strikes The Postman
Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair
She Don't Use Jelly
Do You Realize?
A Spoonful Weighs A Ton


Ok, then Beck. after what seemed like a really long intermission, finally the lights go down and he walks out. he opened w/ uh.. Guess I?m Doing Fine i think. yeah, he did a couple acoustic songs first (sorry i can barely remember now dammit), and then he sang the first verse of Do You Realize before going into Golden Age, then Lips kicked in w/ him. they were behind this black curtain thang. Haha then he said something about being ready to rock, and they pulled the curtain as Lord Only Knows started. It was great! Oh and it was so cool b/c Beck kept coming over and standing right in front of me so I had to crane my neck to look up at him.. he did it like 80 time and if I had just rested my hand on the stage, it would?ve been on his shoe. everyone was all grabbing him and such. Haaaha oh yeah.. his fly was undone for the first half of the concert. people kept yelling it was down between songs and finally he noticed and fixed it during one of his dancing breaks. which were awesome! It was the coolest thing w/ his older/faster songs.. he would just get his break dancing thing on, doing the splits and everything. Haha and it was sweet b/c Wayne would have his little guitar solos and get so into them, laying on the floor and such. At one point Beck came over and got right in his face playing guitar along w/ him, and they both ended up laying on the floor. Oh, and I guess i?ll just mention now how great their sit-in drummer Kliph (I think that?s how he spells it) is. He?s a roadie type guy i believe..? I mean.. hot damn was he good. Just.. wow! seriously, he?s talented. Steven only played drums on a couple of songs. Anyway, Beck was great! he seemed to be having a good time. i gotta admit though, (you can probably tell) I was just more into the Flaming Lips? set than his! As much as i enjoy Sea Change, the songs just didn?t quite do it for me in concert. they were still good, it?s just that after the energy of the Lips, the songs just brought things down in a weird way. well now i feel bad. shit i still really liked Beck, but his faster songs were just more enjoyable for me. Ok. Lot?s of good highlights, song-wise, but I?m getting tired. So after the show they all say bye and Kliph, who is really the nicest guy ever, is shaking everybody?s hand and talking w/ all of them.. and so he comes by us and Ii shake his hand and ask if he has any drumsticks left.. so he says ?yeah sure! I?ll go get one for you!? and he comes back and give me one! woo! it?s so splintered.. haha it?s about to break in two. he rocks. Great great great show! i had so much fun and i?m so glad I went.

here?s Beck?s set. once again i know i?m missing stuff, i might?ve even added songs hah.

Guess I'm Doing Fine
Bottle of Blues
Golden Age
Lord Only Knows
Tropicalia
Get Real Paid
Cold Brains
It's All in Your Mind
Lonesome Tears
Loser
Round the Bend
Lost Cause
Where It's At
Paper Tiger
Nicotine & Gravy
Devil's Haircut


well after i?ve bought a shirt and such, i?m about to leave for the long drive back, but decide to see if the people I met in line were waiting for the band to come out by the bus area outside. sho nuff, they were, and i?m not standing there with them for a minute when Wayne walks out! So he?s talking to people, and then Kliph comes out too. he comes up to us and we just stand there talking to him for what seemed like about 10 minutes, just talking! he didn?t seem rushed, or like he wanted to get out of there? he was so friendly and down to earth. i got him to sign my Yoshimi cover and then asked him if they?d be touring as the main act anytime soon, and he said maybe sometime next year. i also asked where their movie (Christmas on Mars) would be coming out. he wasn?t sure, he said whichever theaters will take it, and that they?ll most likely be releasing it on dvd. then i thank him again and shake his hand. Hm i never did see Steven.. but meanwhile (sorry this is taking such an long-ass time.), Wayne had to go and make a call and said he?d be right back. While we?re waiting, Beck comes out! He stops and talks a bit and signs someone?s thing.. but i think he kind of wanted to get on the bus so i didn?t ask him to sign.. just said thanks and he smiled and so forth. He?s very nice. oh then Michael the bassist walks out, so we talk and thank and he signs. he?s a nice dude too! Finally Wayne comes back off the bus, and talks for a long time w/ the others.. soon they leave so it?s pretty much just Wayne and me! so i say how great the show was and he says thanks. and he asks me if i got Beck to sign anything, and i say that no, he was leaving and I was too scared. He said i shouldn?t be scared, Beck is a really nice guy.. and then we talk a bit more while he signs my thing and i say thanks so much again and stick out my hand for him to shake.. hahaaa but he grabbed me in this huge hug instead, it was great! anyway that?s it.. sorry again for this being so long and crappily written. but I?m still really tired ok? damn. aah i?m just glad i got to meet such a cool band and see such a great show.
I?ll post the couple of pictures i got as soon as i can get them developed! they were being really strict w/ cameras, like taking people?s film out and stuff, so i had to be real discreet-like.. so i barely took any. bye!

 

[Calluna]

Very cool! I am looking forward to seeing Beck and The Flaming Lips in Seattle in a week. This should be a slightly different show because the venue is an actual opera house.

glad you had fun!

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Very cool, girl!

 

[mocool12]

that rocks Calluna... The Joint is a pretty small venue, so i don't know if there was enough room to do as much crazy stuff as they wanted. the Seattle show should be rockin. i'm jealous.. i wish i was seeing them again.

 

[Zoomerang96]

awesome!

ofcourse no good concerts ever come to winnipeg. id LOVE to see the lips and beck.

at least we get nickelback and default 6 times a year

 

[mocool12]

that's b/c The Nickelfault know's they have fans there.. fans that are ready to rock hard! anyway that's why you gotta drive! it's part of the fun.

got the pics developed! i'll post them in a few!

 

[mocool12]

ok.. well i'm pissed b/c i only got five. dammit i wish i could have taken more.
oh well i guess.... some turned out better than others!

here's Wayne

haha you can kind of see that there's a little camera attached to the
microphone. at the end of Do You Realize, he held up this nun hand
puppet and was using it to.. sing... it was great.

Beck breakin'

that's Steven behind him..

Kliph and Michael. they were so nice/cool..

ha the wires on his suit thing glowed.. he walked out wearing it after
the 1st encore when all the lights were still off.

Wayne and Beck

this was during Where It's At.
(Wayne was yelling the "two turntables and a microphone" part.)


ah so that's it... i really wish i had more, but yeah.

 

[Calluna]

Nice pics! You really were close. I am looking forward to seeing Beck in the glow-in-the-dark suit.

 

[Zoomerang96]

awesome picks!

haha about nickelfault...but seriously...you dont think i really like them do you? i was kidding, theyre ass awful. since you like beck and lips theres no way you can like them either...right?

 

[Calluna]

Beck and the Flaming Lips at Benaroya Hall in Seattle

My show was last night but I was too tipsy and tired to write about it. I decided that I could explain myself with more clarity if I waited until today.

Everything was much the same as mocool had described except that instead of being a GA floor situation it was a reserved seating situation in an opera house. I was a bit worried about this because I thought that everyone might be all stuffy and yell at me if I tried to stand up and dance during the show but Wayne, the lead singer of the Flaming Lips, made sure from the start of their set that everyone in the house was standing. I was on the orchestra level about a quarter of the way back from the front. I wasn't as close as mocool was but I still had an excellent view of the stage.

The Flaming Lips set was a total party atmosphere. There were four spinning disco balls on the stage and lots of huge pink and mint green balloons for people to toss around. There were people dressed in all manner of animal costumes dancing around with flashlights on either side of the stage, as mocool had described. They had owls and pandas and even Santa Claus! I heard they were volunteers and I was wishing that I was one of them because they looked like they were having the time of their lives up there. They danced ecstatically on stage with the flashlights until Do You Realize came on when they all came dancing down the aisles hugging people along the way. I want to know how you volunteer for something like that.

At one point, Wayne explained that their shows were like a crazy birthday party and he asked if it was anybody's birthday in the house. Two people raised their hands and the animals pointed their spotlights at them. Wayne wished them a happy birthday, with blood! He took out a tube of fake blood and smeared it all over his face and we all sang happy birthday to the two lucky people. Wayne had a nun puppet during Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and he made it look a though the nun was singing instead of him. It was a great set and I went out to intermission with a huge smile on my face, feeling like a little kid who had just been to the best birthday party ever.

While waiting in the drink line I heard someone say, "It's not a good thing when the opening act upstages the headliner." I thought that might be the case but I really enjoyed Beck's set as well. The Flaming Lips made an effortless transition from main band to backing band. They really are excellent musicians. There was a good balance between the more mellow songs from Sea Change and Mutations the more upbeat songs from Odelay and Midnite Vultures. People sat down and listened during the songs off of Sea Change but as soon as they started to rock out Wayne made sure that everyone was back on their feet again. The setlist was mostly the same as mocool's show but they did not play Paper Tiger. :jealous: They did play Nicotine and Gravy, which is one of my all-time favorite Beck songs so I can't complain.

There was also a funny scene between Wayne and Beck when they told us about their recent appearance at a radio show called Austin City Limits. They decided the wanted to do a duet together for the show but they couldn't decide which song to play. At first they were thinking of 'I Got You Babe' from Sonny and Cher. They sang a few verses but instead of saying 'I Got You Babe' they said, 'I got you Beck' and 'I got you Wayne'. They decided it was innapropriate so then they did a few bars of a Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings duet, something about a hard-drinking woman and a hard-drinking man. That didn't quite cut it either and in the end they had decided on a Velvet Underground song that had a duet between Lou Reed and Nico but they couldnt decide who should be Nico. They did the full version of this song, which I had not heard before, but it was good.

I didn't want to hassle with a camera so I don't have any photos to show but I did get an awesome t-shirt with kitties that have fish for eyes:

Well, that's about it. Thanks for reading my excessive rant. Can you tell I enjoyed myself?

 

[Zoomerang96]

calluna that sounds so awesome. again, i want to go, but cant.

maybe its cause im so ugly?

anyway, my tailbone hurts for some reason.

did beck use his glow in the dark suit, calluna?

 

[Calluna]

I know you would've loved the show but I think that you not being able to go has much more to do with the Winnipeg factor than the ugliness factor.

And yes he did wear the glow-in-the-dark suit! He appeared on the darkened stage and then launched into an encore performance of Where It's At. It was very cool.

 

[mocool12]

roockkin! glad you had fun calluna. damn.. we didn't get the disco balls... hahhaaa i forgot about the nun puppet thing! that was great, everyone was cracking up. Ah and i'd love to hear their VU cover!

dude, deathberang, hopefully when the lips go on a tour of their own in.. march i think (?), you'll be able to see them. everyone should for ass' sake.
and.. holy cr- were you serious? do i like those bands? i.. wow. just... wow. i used to think you were cool.

i liked that shirt too calluna! i got the comic strip-type one w/ the aliens.