Ultimate Sunshine Tour
Featuring The Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, Cake, De La Soul
Tuesday August 20, 2002 @ Phoenix Plaza, Pontiac, MI

How far would you go to see the Flaming Lips play? Would you travel through the depths of hell and back just to see them perform one song? Would you cut off an arm and a leg just to be able to afford the cost of admission?

Hmm… if you answered yes to those last two questions, then you definitely have some issues. Thankfully, we didn’t have to travel through hell to see a Flaming Lips concert, although the experience may in some ways be comparable.

Pontiac Michigan is a suburb of Detroit, no doubt owing its name to one of the many fine automobile lines manufactured right there in the Motor City. Although I preferred to see a show in a suburb as opposed to braving the dangers of crime-infested Detroit (I don’t want to experience Judgement Night first hand), I have to admit that Pontiac did leave something to be desired. It seemed as dirty and depressing as the images of nearby Flint from Michael Moore’s movie Roger & Me… then again, maybe we were just on the bad side of town.

At any rate, I was surprised that Pontiac was only about a 4 hour drive from the St.Catharines/Toronto area, and the drive on the way there was fairly smooth. We even encountered the friendliest border guard ever… I don’t think I’ve ever met a nice one before, at least not in our neck of the woods. After we told him we were going to a rock show, and we assured him that we weren’t going to be messing around in the “mash” pit (or was it “nash” pit?), he let us continue on our merry way.

When we finally reached our destination we were surprised to find that the venue was on top of a parking garage, with what quite possibly may be the biggest American flag ever made flapping in the breeze overhead. It was pretty strange. Of course, I had been oblivious to the fact that the concert we had come to see was actually one of those blasted outdoor festival deals… the “Unlimited Sunshine Tour” it was called I believe. Past experience has taught me that these things rarely make for a satisfying musical performance, but after driving 4 hours I was willing to give it a shot.

As we arrived, we caught the last half of Modest Mouse’s set. I’m not overly familiar with their music but I liked what I heard. Raw, lo-fi indie rock… there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. Their set kind of went downhill when someone joined them onstage with a banjo however. He was a member of the Hackensaw Boys, a country/bluegrass band that played briefly after Modest Mouse, while De La Soul were setting up their gear. The Hackensaw Boys seemed to get the crowd worked up, but they just turned me off. The place already had an authentic country hick atmosphere to it, they didn’t need to shove it in our faces. They did invite everyone to stop by their van and smoke some J’s afterwards though.

De La Soul were next, and although I don’t have much to say about them, I will say that old school hip-hop is fun to watch live, at least for a short period of time. They had a lot of fun on stage, and interacted well with the crowd. They were playful and yet respectful of the fact that many people at the show were not necessarily “hip-hop heads”, and were more interested in the rock bands on the bill. For a few moments, I actually felt a sense of unity among the audience. Sort of. They brought a guest MC on stage for a few songs near the end (Dres from Black Sheep), and he added even more energy to the performance.

As you know, The Flaming Lips were the band we had come to see, and just as they sun was sinking below the horizon, they emerged on stage and lit up the darkening sky appropriately. Although I wasn’t well acquainted with their discography either, I was thoroughly impressed. Their stage show was among the best I have ever seen at a rock concert.

There were people in animal costumes shining flashlights through green smoke, and giant balloons filled with confetti being jostled through the crowd until they popped and showered their contents everywhere. They had huge rotating mirrorballs on stage, as well as a projection screen with synched up video footage for each song. Many of their songs were introduced with video clips of past performances from various late night talk shows. The very first clip was definitely the best however, as it was taken from their appearance on Beverly Hills 90210. It’s hard to believe that the Flaming Lips were actually that popular at one point in their career. To quote Steve from the same episode: “I’m not really into alternative music, but these guys rock the house!”

They opened with the first single from their new album, “Do You Realize”, which electrified the whole place and kickstarted the rock. The additional instrumentation in the song was filled in by a backing tape, but the song nonetheless gave the impression that they were conducting some sort of bizarre orchestra on stage. For the most part they performed as a 3 piece band. Some songs had pre-recorded drum parts, which allowed for live keyboards to be played, but other times they switched up and laid down live drums instead.

One thing quickly became clear… the Flaming Lips are great musicians, but they are also a very visual band. During one song, frontman Wayne Coyne put fake blood all over his face and made use of a camera attached to his microphone to project an extreme close-up of his face onto the video screen.

Another highlight was the title track from the new album, “Yoshimi Battles The Evil Robots”. Coyne had a strange attachment to his acoustic guitar that allowed him to make weird electronic noises when he passed his hand over it. They focused mostly on new material from this album, with the exception of their big hit, She Don’t Use Jelly, which sounded even more raw and vital when performed live.

The truth is, for about 8 songs, I was completely in awe of their show. Unfortunately, it was about then that they stopped playing. Only 8 measly songs, and no encore! I guess it was understandable, considering that it was a festival and all, but I had been hoping that, being one of the headlining bands, they would be allowed to play longer. Short sets do leave the audience wanting more though, which is generally a good thing. The performance probably seemed even more stellar because of the fact that it was cut short.

After The Flaming Lips abruptly finished, we joined all the passed out stoners on the grass (no pun intended) to watch part of Cake’s set, which was quite dull in comparison. Then we were on the road again, headed back to St.Catharines, all in the same night. Despite a bit of a scare when our fuel level dropped very low (warning: there are no 24 hour gas stations along the 403), we made it home safe and sound, feeling exhausted, and yet more enlightened than we had been when we left.

Was it a little silly that we drove 8 hours and paid like 50 bucks to see a 40 minute set by the Flaming Lips? Yes. The road trip was part of the fun though. Next time I do it, I’d rather see a band in a slightly more scenic setting, that’s all. (No offense to Pontiac, Michigan… your giant flag was quite nice.) More than anything, I think the experience left me wanting to see the Flaming Lips play their own show sometime, and the next time they roll through your town, you’d be smart to check them out too. — Sean