Tonight marked the opening night for Noise Pop 2006. Even our dear Mayor Newsom made a proclamation today marking the week of March 27th "Noise Pop Week." Accepting this award was no other than Wayne Flaming Lips himself, accompanied by one of the mayor's employees on the stage.
This was, by far, the hottest ticket in Noise Pop. The Flaming Lips are accustomed to playing large venues, and them playing at Bimbo's was a treat. You had to get up pretty damn early on Sunday and be quick with the point and click on TicketWeb's site to get these tickets. Otherwise, you were left with two options: (1) buy a festival pass for over $100 or (2) pay the same amount on Craigslist. Luckily, I have quick fingers for the pointing and clicking.
I arrived just when the second opener, Midlake, were playing on the seldom used side stage. They hail from Denton, Texas and play beautiful indie rock. Think of Grandaddy, complete with keyboards and facial hair. They engaged the crowd with solid melodies, excellent harmonizing by the lead singer, guitarist and keyboard player and all of this accompanied by captivating images projected on the screen. Sometimes, I got caught up on the images that the music seem to just be a soundtrack to what's on screen. I'm sure that was the intention, but I didn't realize the band was there sometimes when they did this.
After that solid set, the Flaming Lips came on shortly thereafter. While we were waiting, Wayne and the rest of band was doing soundcheck. Wayne would play with the crowd by tossing some confetti or making funny faces on the camera attached to his mic stand, which was then projected to this huge blue screen behind them.
They opened up with "Race for the Prize" from Soft Bulletin. This song, I believe, is a fan favourite intro. While they were playing the song, a slew of oversized balloons appeared and was distributed to the crowd. If you have a phobia of balloons, popping and floating around, then you would have had a heart attack, because the crowd was swarmed by balloons everywhere! And they continued on being there well throughout the entire set.
The second song was a cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." Complete with words projected on the big screen, so you can sing along. It was an excellent cover, and you'd think that Freddy Mercury was actually singing it. We all sang along, especially the main chorus of the song. I still don't know what a "fandango" or a "scaramouche" is, but it was a lot of fun saying it.
Surprisingly, they only played three songs from the new album At War With the Mystics. These included "The W.A.N.D." which was well done live. Very exciting song to listen to. A shortened version of the "Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" because they needed to practice it in preparation for their Late Show appearance on Thursday. And, "Free Radicals" which seemed odd to me live, but nonetheless good.
They also played "Yoshimi," complete with that scary looking nun puppet. I hate that thing. And the classic "She Don't Use Jelly" which transported me back to my junior high days. And, man, Jon Stewart looked young when he introduced that song back in his MTV days.
Overall, it was an amazing and surreal start to Noise Pop. The Flaming Lips definitely know how to entertain, engaging the crowd while at the same time playing fantastic songs.
Beer Rating: 1/2 Beer
-- Photos: Sara Fong
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