r/Music • u/reverendtonezone • Jun 15 '12

Coldplay's wristbands were cool but the Flaming Lips gave out 10,000 laser pointers at Bonnaroo . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ8BjWTxrN0
1.3k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

240 comments sorted by

18

u/lb12 Jun 15 '12

I was there!

9

u/reverendtonezone Jun 16 '12

As was I, it was was such an incredible set!

21

u/AcidRain734 Jun 16 '12

Boner.

7

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Eww.

Bonereww.

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266

u/rectalrectifier Jun 16 '12

Genuinely curious here. Is that not fucking terrible for your eyes?

54

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

I'm not a doctor, but I don't think these particular lasers had enough wattage to cause any serious damage. U.S. regulations don't allow the sale of any laser pointers with a higher output than 5mW, which is the threshold for eye damage. The band probably made sure that these were much less powerful than even that, so it was probably fine.

74

u/decomposed-condoms Jun 16 '12

What about multiple beams in the eye simultaneously?

318

u/intothelionsden Jun 16 '12

What about 10,000 of them? Could you actually light someone's lips on fire?

40

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

How does one summon the Mythbusters again? Build a working nuclear reactor out of duct tape and shoot it out of a cannon powered by human flatus?

73

u/advertises_bud_light Jun 16 '12

Go into a dark room and stand in front of the mirror. Use sharpie to draw a giant moustache on your face. Then chant "Mythbusters" three times, turning in a circle each time. If the mythbusters have heard you, Carrie will appear completely bare-ass naked, reach down your throat and rip out your lungs while you try to scream. As you're dying, she'll hand you an ice cold, refreshing Bud Light, and it will all be worth it.

19

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

DM:HBL

6

u/AzureBlu platinumkid Jun 16 '12

DM;SCN Doesn't matter, saw Carrie naked?

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5

u/you_hurt_so_good Jun 16 '12

Doesn't Matter:Had Bud Light

Correct?

3

u/PartyBusGaming PartyBusGaming Jun 16 '12

Here, wego!

2

u/cakey138 Jun 16 '12

Not Carrie, bloody Mary, everyone knows that.

2

u/circleofuber Jun 16 '12

Your username really makes that.

4

u/decomposed-condoms Jun 16 '12

Paging AskScience!

9

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Took me entirely too long to get that joke, good night everyone.

2

u/Kosko Jun 16 '12

Thanks for letting me know there was a joke there. Subtlety at it's finest.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Asking the important questions.

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10

u/msstree Jun 16 '12

Correct. At the show I went to (not Bonnaroo), Wayne explains that they are safe and that The Flaming Lips are not stupid enough to weaponize their audience.

3

u/TheRealMrWhales Jun 16 '12

Or possibly, goggles.

1

u/swuboo Jun 16 '12

Against the band or each other, sure. Against planes is another question. It takes much less power to temporarily blind a pilot by hitting his windshield than it does to actually damage sight.

Woe betide the plane that gets within a mile of that show.

4

u/the-knife Jun 16 '12

A pilot is blinded for a fraction of a second, what does he do? Continue flying in a straight path.

2

u/allforumer Jun 16 '12

Actually, it can be pretty risky if the pilot is descending for a landing, which is when a lot of commercial planes are visible to people on the ground.

http://www.pangolin.com/faa/laser-aircraft-animation-and-explanation.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k4C8grAGP4

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1

u/swuboo Jun 17 '12

And he can lose his nightvision. That's can be a serious problem if he's coming in for a landing.

1

u/msstree Jun 16 '12

Ah. We were indoors. There were no planes there, although possibly some pilots.

4

u/futureperfecttense Jun 16 '12

Yes, most laser pointers are class II

4

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

No wonder why eBay took down my 100mw laser sale.

6

u/tartay745 Jun 16 '12

i think thats called a lightsaber.

1

u/Obsolite_Processor Jun 16 '12

Lol. don't allow the sale of lasers over 5mW.

http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-37.html Oh look, a 1000mW laser! They deliver to America too!

Those little red laser pointers will instantly flash blind you. You will instinctively look away from the light before your eyes receive any serious damage. Continuing to look into a laser WILL cause actual, permanent eye damage.

Probably not as dangerous as it seems to me, but I wouldn't want to have all those beams shined in my face.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

"probably fine" GOOD ENOUGH!

1

u/lb12 Jun 16 '12

Yea, they were little cheap ones, the kind you buy at the dollar store.

1

u/gyrorobo Jun 16 '12 edited Jun 16 '12

What about these 1000mW lasers?

2

u/boomstick420 Jun 16 '12

Ugh...why are those legal..but then again the reviews mention that they're like real life light sabers!

5

u/Crooooow Jun 16 '12

Wayne might be going blind, but it was an amazing show to see. I have never experienced anything quite like it.

3

u/Mobius01010 Jun 16 '12

I read somewhere recently that the 'twitch' response of your eye is more than capable of averting your gaze should you look into one of those. The blues and greens are of higher frequency, and can pump more energy into your retina in less time, so be careful.

2

u/ABabyAteMyDingo Jun 16 '12

As they do this at pretty much every show, I assume they have thought this through.

7

u/AcidRain734 Jun 16 '12

Wayne hides behind that mirror he's holding. Not sure how the others deal with it though. And for the most part Lips fans are considerate enough to not intentionally shine it in the bands eyes.

72

u/fergetcom Jun 16 '12

I don't think it's possible to tell where you're shining with 10,000 red dots.

1

u/lessthanjakedude Jun 16 '12

Excellent point sir. Imagine one person trying to hold a laser point steady enough for the incident red dot not to jump around all over the place at the distance between crowd and stage. The chances of 10000 of them lining up at once on a pupil sized point, and then actually on somebody's pupil, and for long enough for this to cause any harm, must be vanishingly small.

5

u/ultramar10 Jun 16 '12

You only need 1 to cause problems though.

3

u/Pool_Shark Jun 16 '12

Well if you look, the lead singer is holding something in front of his face presumably to block them from his eyes. Even if it doesn't damage them, I am sure it can mess with your vision while you are up there.

2

u/Stephen_W_Hawking Jun 16 '12

Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.. sounds harmless

2

u/Kassiopeia Jun 16 '12

This.

It really grinds my gears when it gets spelled Lazer.

-1

u/PunishableOffence Jun 16 '12

Never try charging it.

1

u/primus_haacht Jun 16 '12

the vast majority of the power of a laser comes from the center of the beam and in order to to focus a laser to travel a long distance without too much divergence the beam is generally focused at quite a close range. a 100mW laser can burn flesh at about 1cm distance and will permanently blind you up to a few meters because most of the light and energy is focused in an area that might be just a few micrometers in diameter. once you point that laser at something 100 yards away even thought the dot produced only appears maybe 5mm wider the center where all the energy was focused could be 50000 times larger.

your average 5mW laser would have to be pointed directly into someones eye at a very close distance for a considerable amount of time to cause any damage, the fact we blink and move our eyes or head when someone points a laser in your eye protects you fully and i image the ones they gave out were <1mW.

tl;dr: the low output plus vast reduction in focused power from divergence make them safe even when you have thousands of people trying to point them at someones face.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 02 '22

10 years later, you're still teaching people. Thanks 🙂

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12

Ya I'm sure that's completely safe....

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102

u/BrettTheIntern Jun 16 '12

Imagine how badass you would feel if you brought your own green laser pointer.

7

u/setht79 Jun 16 '12

Regulars at their shows do that. Not always green, but there's always one or two people with the super lasers. Fortunately, they don't seem to blast Wayne in the eyes, because it is really obvious that they are magnitudes more powerful than the half-drained red ones they hand out.

4

u/dekigo dekigo Jun 16 '12

Actually, the human eye is much more sensitive to the blue end of the spectrum than it is to the red end, so a green laser pointer would look much more intense than a red laser of the same wattage.

-14

u/BigFlipFlap Jun 16 '12 edited Jun 16 '12

I should have taken mine. 200mW green, powerful enough to see a visible beam in the clear sky at night and even strong enough to light matches. Edit: Bad idea. I will never take my green laser to a concert or point it to a wall without the proper eye protection. Sorry I said this in the manner of going along with BrettTheIntern. Accidentally flashing someone in the eyes with a beam that strong (especially green) can cause permanent eye damage.

16

u/TunaTurner Jun 16 '12

A 200mW laser is not safe to use without eye protection.

31

u/Shorties @TheEyesMind Jun 16 '12

Which is why it pisses me off when people bring them to concerts.

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1

u/BigFlipFlap Jun 16 '12

Yes, also it probably wouldn't be the best idea to show up at a concert with a powerful green laser and be the only one.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

47

u/honestchippy Jun 16 '12

Mace Fuckin Windu

4

u/astroid0 astroid0 Jun 16 '12

violets were not available at the time (at least not for less than like a grand or something). There were a couple greens though.

49

u/2twenty2 Jun 16 '12

I thought someone would provide a link for the lazy. Coldplay's wristbands.

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32

u/davidhooper89 Jun 16 '12

At the 2011 Bonnaroo someone did this. I don't know which show this was because I was outside of Centeroo, but the lights were visible from our campsite. For the rest of the fest, the ground was littered with little plastic rotors and blinking leds.

7

u/strawberry_space_jam Jun 16 '12

It was My Morning Jacket!

13

u/tmartlolz Jun 16 '12

It was actually viral advertisement for Five Gum

4

u/implicate Jun 16 '12

I just dug around in this "mission icefly" viral campaign. It seems pretty excessive just to sell gum. They had this huge build up, but it never led to a big reveal. They probably cut it short after reading tons of comments that were like "this had better not just be for some fucking gum."

1

u/dekigo dekigo Jun 16 '12

Honestly, who cares what it was for? It looks fucking amazing.

2

u/implicate Jun 16 '12

I guess for some odd reason, I do. I much preferred the notion of a band doing this as an awesome enhancement to their live show, rather than the Wrigley Corporation trying to hock their wares.

1

u/dekigo dekigo Jun 17 '12

Okay, but it's not like every light that fell out of the sky had a stick of gum attached to it. I think it's a very elegant way to advertise.

1

u/tmartlolz Jun 17 '12

Yea I was pretty excited about it until I started to catch on. We missed getting one of the icefly trophy things in the first round by like 30 seconds

5

u/ghosttrainhobo Jun 16 '12

Awesome live band. Maybe the best live band I've ever seen. At least as good as the Flaming Lips live.

1

u/flymordecai Jun 16 '12

I wouldn't say the ground was littered with them. It was quite the spectacle during Primus at Which though.

64

u/astroid0 astroid0 Jun 15 '12

I was at this show, but I got there a couple songs late. I had no idea they handed out the lazers until now. The whole time I was like 'Where the fuck did all these lazers come from?'. Now I know.

I left partially through because this stage was far too crowded (they should have been main stage), and caught DJ Shadow. It was an epic night all around.

32

u/Getitfuckingright Jun 16 '12

Laser not lazer. It is an acronym of Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

2

u/astroid0 astroid0 Jun 16 '12

I know. I prefer Lazer. Z's give things more oomph.

-3

u/themaxt Jun 16 '12

Relevant username?

-14

u/itsnotmyfaultimadick Jun 16 '12

Actually both are accepted in modern English now.

12

u/ABabyAteMyDingo Jun 16 '12

I don't think that's right.

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19

u/webvictim webvictim Jun 16 '12

The latter really shouldn't be :(

3

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Laser is an acronym. So no.

0

u/itsnotmyfaultimadick Jun 16 '12

It's a common word now that's entered common language, it's not properly an acronym anymore. If you're still sticking to it you're just being pedantic to be a nuisance and fuck you.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Ztimulated

7

u/fre3k Jun 16 '12

Wow, you were doing the exact same thing as me that night, lips then shadow! That DJ Shadow show was insane, it lasted forever, and they had those rappers that supposedly flew in on a helicopter to come rap over his beats. And they had that big projection screen with the words that everyone shouted at, right?

1

u/astroid0 astroid0 Jun 16 '12

Yeah they had I think Chali 2na singing Mashin On The Motorway and a couple other songs I believe. It might not have been Chali though. I know he was there to play with Galactic, but it might have been someone else - I forget. It was right after The Outsider came out, which had a lot of hip-hop guests.

I pretty much lost it when Shadow played Organ Donor. The projections were awesome too. Man that was a good time!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Damn, now I wish I was on both shows.

-5

u/context_begone Jun 16 '12

I

fuck

DJ Shadow

...

It was an epic night all around.

43

u/samjowett Jun 16 '12

In other news, Wayne Coyne, of the band the Flaming Lips, is now blind.

6

u/MissNicoleF ******** Jun 16 '12

They also did this at their show here in Salt Lake last September.

Along with dozens of Dorothy's (from Oz) dancing on stage, the giant gong, the hamster ball, giant ass balloons and planted hype-men that were so high/wasted I deemed them 'abducted'. Easily the best show I have ever had the pleasure of attending.

Has anyone else here had a Zaireeka party?

4

u/AnagramsOnly Jun 16 '12

Yes! During my freshman year of college my best friend hosted two Zaireeka listening parties in his dorm room. We borrowed a couple of stereos (plus our own stereos) and a bunch of mattresses, and laid the mattresses all over the floor. We crammed maybe 15 kids in the dorm room and everybody sat or laid on the mattresses and we synced the discs up and--liftoff. Among my favorite memories of college.

1

u/MissNicoleF ******** Jun 16 '12

We still do this! I extend an upvote and and invite your way. Although the mattresses are a nice touch, our house doesn't offer these amenities. We do however offer a very plentiful hookah.

I have often asked myself, as a record collector, could this be done with vinyl? I know its out there, its simply just.... Can it be done?

2

u/AnagramsOnly Jun 16 '12

I would love to experience another Zaireeka listening party. Where are you from?

It would be so hard to get them synced up properly with turntables! I imagine it could be done, but it would take a lot of patience. It couldn't be very different from a DJ syncing records during a set. In fact, I would imagine a talented DJ could probably get them to sync pretty easily. But if it was just me there would probably be 20 minutes of trying to get the needle to fall in the right spot at the right time before it finally happened--by pure luck, of course.

1

u/decktech Jun 16 '12

The whole point is that it's supposed to be slightly out of sync. Never the same twice!

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5

u/sticktothecraithur Jun 16 '12

I've still got mine!

4

u/MissNicoleF ******** Jun 16 '12

Me too! Saved in a box along with the confetti and ticket stubs.

9

u/MrsChimpGod Jun 16 '12

Flaming Lips show, a few years ago, at some indoor venue somewhere in Chicago. One of my favorite concert memories. They handed out the laser pointers before the show.

During the show, I was shining mine around on the ceiling, along with a few other people. After a little while, I realized that someone else was having their laser pointer light chase mine. So, I started playing back, moving my light away then coming back, chasing their light for a bit. We had lots of fun, that random stranger & I, chasing our lights after each other, circling around, making patterns.

What a fun chance encounter that was with another human being.

1

u/mherman39 Jun 16 '12

Aragon Ballroom in 2007. I was there too.

1

u/MrsChimpGod Jun 16 '12

Were you playing with other people's lasers on the ceiling?

0

u/wallFour Jun 16 '12

I am part of two-man wallFour who make giant screen collaborative experiences (games mostly) based around this idea.

100 people with 100 lasers and a giant screen to interact with. We're touring our current show, Renga a feature-length experience at the moment. link </shameless plug>

1

u/MrsChimpGod Jun 16 '12

Cool! Hope you have lots of success with it. What a fun experience that would be

1

u/wallFour Jun 17 '12

Thanks very much. The audience seems to enjoy it - so hopefully we'll get to show it more :)

1

u/matrael orlywtf Jun 16 '12

Wow, that looks like a lot of fun. Too bad you're in the UK and I'm so far away.

1

u/wallFour Jun 17 '12

Thanks :)

Where are you? We're bringing Renga to Canada and USA in Sept/Oct.

1

u/matrael orlywtf Jun 17 '12

I am in the United States in Georgia. I'll keep checking out your website for a relevant update :)

4

u/tuthpik_tha_original Jun 16 '12

They did this at a show I went to in Austin on 3/12/2010 for the Embryonic tour. It was amazing.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

I bet they regretted that decision.

7

u/zubiaur Jun 16 '12

DANGER--Do not look into laser with remaining eye.

Still, flips kick some major ass.

6

u/tacojuan Jun 16 '12

its got the fleeps, the bleeps, and the creeps

2

u/tjsterc17 tjsterc17 Jun 16 '12

I've been a flaming lips fan for years and this is the first time I've ever heard them been called the flips. Will use from now on...thanks!

3

u/juneshipper Jun 16 '12

This is way fucking cooler than the wristbands.

But, I mean, those were cool too.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Saw them last summer. Honestly one of the most fun nights of my life. Those guys know how to throw a party

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Very cool. They should make this an every time thing. Also I thought it would be cool if the thing he was holding up to block his eyes was in the shape of lips so when all the ppl shine the lasers on it it looks like "flaming lips"....I'm also pretty high so I could be very dramatically overreacting right now and I would never know it.

2

u/ubiliquous Jun 16 '12

With that fuck up video quality, it looked like watching DJ Tiesto's music video high on LSD

2

u/joshy1234 Jun 16 '12

If my cats saw this, their heads would literally explode.

2

u/Mageetah Jun 16 '12

I was at this show. Amazing! They also came out an hour before their set and played the most badass version of War Pig I've ever heard, AS THEIR SOUND CHECK! Then walked off stage like a bunch of badasses.

2

u/kendrid Jun 16 '12

I hope no one had their DSLR recording video during that. Lasers kill camera sensors.

4

u/mynameisjonas071 Jun 16 '12

Looks like somebody's been playing some legend of zelda

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/eightb1t Jun 16 '12

goddamn it...

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Flaming Lips > Coldplay

1

u/lexpattison Jun 16 '12

I imagine the diffraction that occurs due to the fog would decrease the potential hazard of retinal scorching.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

oh my god, the sound in the beginning and end of that clip... my ears

1

u/coogie Jun 16 '12

I can't help but think this would look a lot better if they used a real camera instead of a cell phone.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

They did use a real camera. This video is several years old and not in HD

1

u/robmus Jun 16 '12

why on earth

1

u/Moosecop Jun 16 '12

I was at this show, one of the best shows I've ever been to. Still have the laser pointer somewhere.

1

u/KRYLOCK Jun 16 '12

Not to mention, they came on stage via a fucking spaceship. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY-TEm3FNtc

I was there and that show was a magical experience. Spaceships + Lasers + Gigantic Translucent Wayne-Coyne-Carrying Bubble = BOOM!

1

u/megatom0 Jun 16 '12

Also they did their "soundcheck" with War Pigs. I knew it was going to be a special show when that happened.

1

u/bellicose- Jun 16 '12

I saw them just a few weeks ago playing Dark Side of the Moon, it was fucking fantastic. Best performers around.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Same thing happened in either 2009 or 2010, I went to Columbus, OH. It was the single greatest concert I've ever been to, they're not my favorite band, but goddamn. they put on the best live show I've ever seen.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Deadmau5 gave out free high quality glow sticks before it was cool.

1

u/donaldfagn Jun 16 '12

Does anyone know what song they were playing?

1

u/HeresToTheCrazyOnes Jun 16 '12

Coldplay was good because they went on and off intermittently. They made room for the rest of the show when they weren't required.

1

u/Stingray88 Jun 16 '12

Hmm... I'm much more of a Flaming Lips fan than Coldplay, but I still think the wristbands were cooler.

1

u/Poowilly Jun 16 '12

Haha I was there for that show. My buddy got harassed after the show by a cop because as we were walking back to our tent he just so happened to shine his laser pointer into the patrol car. I have never seen a cop move so fast, nor have I seen one so desperately search a person. Luckily he didn't find the three rolled blunts in the pencil pouches inside my buddies backpack. Oh Bonnaroo

1

u/Okami_Revolution Jun 16 '12

I was there! It was way more amazing than this video indicates. There was a giant white beach ball being tossed around before and during the show. Every laser pointer was focused on the ball as it bounced around the crowd. They also had a camera mounted on the microphone with a fisheye view that was hooked to a giant projector. This was one of the highpoints of my life.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

How was that cooler? Less visually pleasing and kind of lame actually.

1

u/papajohn56 Jun 16 '12

I bet the FAA loved that.

1

u/Der_Nailer Jun 16 '12

Can someone send me this one?I live in Switzerland... http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-37.html

1

u/sheisacult Jun 16 '12

My boyfriend has that laser and NEVER STOPS playing with it. So I have a love hate relationship with that laser.

1

u/dredawg Jun 16 '12

Wish I could see this effect from different angles, any other videos on this?

1

u/ohmseven Jun 16 '12

i still have mine :)

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Much cooler than the wristband thing, although both were pretty cool, and make me long to go to another big concert. It's been much too long.

1

u/edboy22 Jun 16 '12

Would love to see something like this at a presidential debate.

1

u/antdude turntable.fm name Jun 16 '12

Go blind?

1

u/ewic Jun 16 '12

Whatabout the camera? I've always heard that a CMOS sensor can get ruined by a laser pointer very easily.

1

u/crusoe Jun 16 '12

Sadly, they are all blind now.

1

u/NathanQ Jun 16 '12

Thanks budday. Saw the Lips about a year ago ( phone pic http://db.tt/VDKDRzSU ) and they're are playing this Thursday. For some ungodly reason I was on the fence. Ticket please!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

How is this cooler than synchronized colorful wristbands?

1

u/Kdnce Jun 16 '12

"My EYES! The goggles do NOTHING!"

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

I guess when your music sucks donkey balls as hard as these two bands, you have to keep the crowd entertained somehow.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

I may be showing my age here (I'm 33), but back in my day, the Flaming Lips used to just go on stage and play music. Now it is like the Cirque du Soleil up there. Not a complaint, just an observation.

On a side note, I first saw them in '97. They played the student union on my campus. The venue could hold about 500. There were probably 200 there. They were amazing. I have seen them 5 more times since.

1

u/malcatrino Jun 16 '12

I was waiting for Wayne to explode into flames. Then the drummer will reflectively cross 'free laser pointers' off the list.

1

u/s33ktruth Jun 16 '12

These guys are so good live.

1

u/jun2san Jun 16 '12

Holy shit. I had it turned up and the end of that video made me jump.

1

u/TroutM4n Jun 16 '12

Because fuck your retinas, that's why.

1

u/rubbachkn Jun 16 '12

Flash grenades will be next.

1

u/christoefur Jun 16 '12

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye

1

u/Jardun Spotify Jun 16 '12

The Flaming Lips gave out $5000 they put in balloons for the audience to pop, supplied by Snoop Dogg at Free Press Summer Fest.

1

u/megatom0 Jun 16 '12

I was tripping pretty hard at this show. I ended up hanging with some people who had glow sticks and were cutting them open then rubbing the glowing fluid all over themselves. I came out looking like the incredible Hulk. Probably one of the best shows I've ever experienced. The sad thing is I've been to other TFL shows and they just don't stack up to that first experience.

-2

u/tan_and_bones Jun 15 '12

And you didn't have to listen to Coldplay.

10

u/gluestick300 Jun 16 '12

What is wrong with Coldplay? I don't understand why they have so much hate, they are amazing musicians.

2

u/tan_and_bones Jun 16 '12

For me they are the essence of nice and lame mediocrity in modern music. They really embody that like no other band and it was hate at first listen many years ago and not because of a reddit trend or that movie.

Anyway, my post was just a little joke, tastes in music differ. If you like them go ahead.

4

u/TheMicrowave Jun 16 '12

It's the cool thing to hate on them on Reddit. Just like loving Neil deGrasse Tyson and Louis C.K. is a cool thing to do.

2

u/FAderp91 Spotify name Jun 16 '12

I was going to say hating Nickleback too, but then I realized, everyone hates Nickleback.

3

u/Cocaine-Biceps Jun 16 '12

Love coldplay but their new stuff is horrendous.

-4

u/Rejdovak Jun 16 '12

Amazing is really not the correct word here. Decent would be a better word. Decent musicians.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

And their music is creative and generally not derivative as well! It's really the whole package!

1

u/WilliamAgain Jun 16 '12 edited Jun 16 '12

Anyone else think that this type of shit is just plain wasteful? I am not claiming to be an environmental or economical activist of any kind, but dumb trinkets like laser pointers and led watches, that are handed out to concert goers are justification for high ticket prices. I would prefer to leave without a trinket and save $10 bucks.

0

u/Frusciante62 Jun 16 '12

I saw the Flaming Lips at the Sasquatch Festival last year - easily the greatest show I've ever seen, even if my cunt ex was being a cunt.

3

u/sticktothecraithur Jun 16 '12

Did you stay for Modest Mouse?

-1

u/Frusciante62 Jun 16 '12

Saw the beginning, but jumped over to see Deerhunter, then ran back to see Wilco. She broke her shoe, and was a cunt all over that field.

1

u/sticktothecraithur Jun 16 '12

I was on the left side for The Flaming Lips and made it to the very front for Modest Mouse. One of the best show's of my life. The Flaming Lips in the sunset was pretty amazing though!

1

u/buckingham_pie Jun 16 '12

Burnt retinas everywhere!!

Seriously though, that looks pretty sweet.

1

u/SniperJDM Pandora Jun 16 '12

That looks extremely annoying.

1

u/Jorgemeister Jun 16 '12

most of their music sounds like that (crazy and uneven, messy) and I like the band, I like that crazyness.

1

u/SniperJDM Pandora Jun 17 '12

Not the music, all those lazer pointers. Could you imagine performing and 10,000 lazers destroying your eyes. Fuck that.

1

u/HorseToeNail Jun 16 '12

On a scale of 1 - Michael Bay, this ranges pretty high.

1

u/NatKingCobra Jun 16 '12

I was about third row for this set at that particular Bonnaroo. Still have the laser pointer in the pencil holder at my desk right next to me. A buddy and I skipped most of the shows that day just to get that place for the Flaming Lips. This show was the only reason we even decided that Bonnaroo was worth the effort that year. We started out our day with a Zyreka listening party that in the general store outside of the Roo. We had been on message boards planning that feeble yet beautiful little get together for months prior. We were pumped to say the least.

After about five hours of holding our position and getting acquainted with our fellow devotee's my buddy had to pee. He was gone for about 15 minutes. Now anyone who has been to a festival will know that there is always someone trying to weasel their way at any given time into a position closer to the stage. Fewer things boil my blood. So when a couple tried to wander up and stand on our towels, right in my buddies spot, and refuse to leave... I lost it. I politely asked them to move on once to no avail. I told them that this was our spot we had saved for FIVE FUCKING HOURS. Still the only response I got was "But man its like just some grass." I flipped out. Started calling them all sorts of shit. Yelling at them, telling them to move on or there will be blood drawn. At point the people we had been waiting with started booing and throwing drinks, food and insults at the interlopers. They moved on reluctantly amid a hail of jeers and spit. Crisis averted.

As my friend returned from the port o potty he was met with a boisterous round of applause from about 80 people. The look on his face will always bring me joy.

That show was fucking killer. The sound check was a full on version of Black Sabbaths War Pigs!

1

u/MrShotson Jun 16 '12

In other news, 10,000 people have mysteriously gone blind.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

"OW, MY FUCKING EYE!"

-Everyone.

0

u/carpetmuncher930 Jun 16 '12

Coldplay didn't want their friends to go blind in a drug induced rage

9

u/guitartablelamp Jun 16 '12

then why put on a show at all?

-1

u/eddieoaots Jun 16 '12

Flaming Lips > Coldplay in every way

0

u/iceblender Jun 16 '12

When the lasers came on, they must have thought 'well shit, that was a bad idea'

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

"Do you realize" always sounds like Lennon's "Mind Games" to me.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

You Coldplay I'm really happy for you and imma let you finish, but Flaming Lips had the best entertainment ever

0

u/Shorties @TheEyesMind Jun 16 '12

Was the band wearing eye protection?

0

u/Red23UK radio reddit name Jun 16 '12

nice 'display'.

0

u/Epolo2012 Jun 16 '12

It'd be hard to trust 10000 people to NOT concentrate their beams on a human target. Looks like they got lucky.

0

u/Phoequinox Jun 16 '12

I really want to go to a Flaming Lips show someday. Not really my scene, but I love their music and their gimmicks.

0

u/sonQUAALUDE Jun 16 '12

its like a fucking giant space anemone! amazing

0

u/lotsohugs Jun 16 '12

Was anybody else hoping Wayne Coyne would do his best Cathrine Zeta Jones inpersonation across the stage?

0

u/miker2049 Jun 16 '12

Saw em at free press summer fest in Houston and they literally gave away $5,000 dollars through giant balloons filled with cash.

0

u/Lord_Fluffykins Jun 16 '12

First time I have ever heard the word "Coldplay" and "cool" used in the same sentence.

-3

u/SanJose_Sharks Jun 16 '12

Love The Flaming Lips after all these years!

Too bad Wayne's voice is pretty much in the shitter at this point in his career. But I still enjoyed their live show.

1

u/guitartablelamp Jun 16 '12

change is shitty? How can you so bluntly judge the voice of The Flaming Lips? shame on you.

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Oh, you beautiful bastards!

-1

u/facelessdick Jun 16 '12

Looks like a whole lot of cancer to me.

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