The Flaming Lips w/Built To Spill & White Dwarf
Doug................Doug Martsch.
Dougie........You're breaking my heart Dougie!
How do we react at shows when there is somebody drunk and obnoxious right next to us? Rolled eyes? Angry words? Midgets? I found myself in this situation earlier tonight at the Flaming Lips/Built To Spill show out at Edgefield. The woman in question was drunk and screaming out to Doug and Built To Spill to play another song WHEN THEY WERE ALREADY TEARING DOWN THEIR EQUIPMENT. By this point, everyone in this section of the crowd was ready for blood, provoking this inspiring exchange:
Annoying Drunk Chick (ADC): DOUGIE, PLAY CORTEZ! YOU'RE BREAKING MY HEART, DOUGIE!!!!
Girl behind ADC: I'm gonna break your face, bitch!
In retrospect, that might have been the highlight of the night. After that, the boyfriend of the girl whose witty retort I have just immortalized tried to distract Annoying Drunk Chick by asking her if she could "party with everyone else in the crowd, not just Built To Spill". The comedy practically writes itself.
Soon Annoying Drunk Chick left and was replaced by the biggest Flaming Lips fangirl I've ever met. How do I meet these people?
Back up.
I arrived at the show at around 4PM with doors at 5PM and the show at 6PM. I thought, gee, it's a weekday, I should get a pretty decent spot on the lawn. When I arrived, I was about 50th in line and thinking, well, my view should be nice. I got into the show, got some pizza and a soda and immediately realized that there WAS NO SEATING-JUST LAWN. I wound up pretty much on stage despite not really arriving all that early. Ah, beautiful late-arriving Portland!
The opening act, White Dwarf, were fantastic. Really fantastic. Think Flaming Lips crossed with The Darkness. Yes, The Darkness. They were great. I may have to look them up.
Built To Spill set up hastily by themselves and started playing at 6:45. They began with two of my favorites, "Three Years Ago Today" and "Nowhere Nothing Fuckup", both from 1993's Ultimate Alternative Wavers. And then they started stretching out their songs. A lot. Probably due to Annoying Drunk Chick's incessant requests, "Going Against Your Mind" followed (mind you, this chick wanted to hear that over "Car"-WTF?). By this point, I was mesmerized by Doug's guitar playing (he was ON FIRE) and wondering just how much they would fit into their set (not to mention annoyed, mortified and embarrassed beyond belief on account of Annoying Drunk Chick). How much did they fit into their set? Here's the setlist:
Three Years Ago Today
Nowhere Nothing Fuckup
Going Against Your Mind
You Were Wrong
Virginia Reel Around The Fountain
That's right. Five songs. In 45 minutes.
How is this possible? Well, they jammed out every song to its full jam capabilities. They also had only one instrument per band member and seemingly no roadies, a problem when you play long songs involving lots of guitars. There was lots of downtime between songs. They also managed to choose three songs that clock in over six minutes in the studio and much longer live. It was still great. Being that close to Doug as he unleashed some serious guitar fury was something I'll never forget. Remember, I was on the barricade. How did that happen?
The Flaming Lips were predictably great. Wayne Coyne came down to talk to my section about holding him up in the ball and how we would have to be vigilant against being crushed by people when he was in the ball. What a guy. The show was outstanding, though I really could have used much more of The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi (one song and three songs, respectively). They turned "Fight Test" and "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" into acoustic singalongs, which, despite being sweet, shortchanged the power of the originals. They played a ton of songs from At War With The Mystics, a subpar album by their standards. They also played lots of new material. I could have used a better setlist but really, I'm quibbling. It was still fantastic. They closed with "She Don't Use Jelly" and "Do You Realize?", both of which made my night. Two huge highlights, two huge songs. What a great show!
You all would have loved it. I had a great time, freaks and all. And really, barring physical harm, all this stuff just makes for more interesting stories, right?
I didn't take my digital camera as I was advised to leave it at home. Suckage. I did, however, get some shitty good cell phone pictures:
Yes, that's Wayne Coyne's face. In a bubble. My kingdom for my digital camera!
I took a few more. I'll add them later.
Edit: Here are four more pictures.
Dougie........You're breaking my heart Dougie!
How do we react at shows when there is somebody drunk and obnoxious right next to us? Rolled eyes? Angry words? Midgets? I found myself in this situation earlier tonight at the Flaming Lips/Built To Spill show out at Edgefield. The woman in question was drunk and screaming out to Doug and Built To Spill to play another song WHEN THEY WERE ALREADY TEARING DOWN THEIR EQUIPMENT. By this point, everyone in this section of the crowd was ready for blood, provoking this inspiring exchange:
Annoying Drunk Chick (ADC): DOUGIE, PLAY CORTEZ! YOU'RE BREAKING MY HEART, DOUGIE!!!!
Girl behind ADC: I'm gonna break your face, bitch!
In retrospect, that might have been the highlight of the night. After that, the boyfriend of the girl whose witty retort I have just immortalized tried to distract Annoying Drunk Chick by asking her if she could "party with everyone else in the crowd, not just Built To Spill". The comedy practically writes itself.
Soon Annoying Drunk Chick left and was replaced by the biggest Flaming Lips fangirl I've ever met. How do I meet these people?
Back up.
I arrived at the show at around 4PM with doors at 5PM and the show at 6PM. I thought, gee, it's a weekday, I should get a pretty decent spot on the lawn. When I arrived, I was about 50th in line and thinking, well, my view should be nice. I got into the show, got some pizza and a soda and immediately realized that there WAS NO SEATING-JUST LAWN. I wound up pretty much on stage despite not really arriving all that early. Ah, beautiful late-arriving Portland!
The opening act, White Dwarf, were fantastic. Really fantastic. Think Flaming Lips crossed with The Darkness. Yes, The Darkness. They were great. I may have to look them up.
Built To Spill set up hastily by themselves and started playing at 6:45. They began with two of my favorites, "Three Years Ago Today" and "Nowhere Nothing Fuckup", both from 1993's Ultimate Alternative Wavers. And then they started stretching out their songs. A lot. Probably due to Annoying Drunk Chick's incessant requests, "Going Against Your Mind" followed (mind you, this chick wanted to hear that over "Car"-WTF?). By this point, I was mesmerized by Doug's guitar playing (he was ON FIRE) and wondering just how much they would fit into their set (not to mention annoyed, mortified and embarrassed beyond belief on account of Annoying Drunk Chick). How much did they fit into their set? Here's the setlist:
Three Years Ago Today
Nowhere Nothing Fuckup
Going Against Your Mind
You Were Wrong
Virginia Reel Around The Fountain
That's right. Five songs. In 45 minutes.
How is this possible? Well, they jammed out every song to its full jam capabilities. They also had only one instrument per band member and seemingly no roadies, a problem when you play long songs involving lots of guitars. There was lots of downtime between songs. They also managed to choose three songs that clock in over six minutes in the studio and much longer live. It was still great. Being that close to Doug as he unleashed some serious guitar fury was something I'll never forget. Remember, I was on the barricade. How did that happen?
The Flaming Lips were predictably great. Wayne Coyne came down to talk to my section about holding him up in the ball and how we would have to be vigilant against being crushed by people when he was in the ball. What a guy. The show was outstanding, though I really could have used much more of The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi (one song and three songs, respectively). They turned "Fight Test" and "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" into acoustic singalongs, which, despite being sweet, shortchanged the power of the originals. They played a ton of songs from At War With The Mystics, a subpar album by their standards. They also played lots of new material. I could have used a better setlist but really, I'm quibbling. It was still fantastic. They closed with "She Don't Use Jelly" and "Do You Realize?", both of which made my night. Two huge highlights, two huge songs. What a great show!
You all would have loved it. I had a great time, freaks and all. And really, barring physical harm, all this stuff just makes for more interesting stories, right?
I didn't take my digital camera as I was advised to leave it at home. Suckage. I did, however, get some shitty good cell phone pictures:
Yes, that's Wayne Coyne's face. In a bubble. My kingdom for my digital camera!
I took a few more. I'll add them later.
Edit: Here are four more pictures.
posted by Matt at
8:15 AM
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