Flaming Lips Play Small Club Show, Fans Scalp For $250

07/19/2002 12:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Mark Armstrong

(7/19/02, 12 p.m. ET) -- (7/19/02, 12 p.m. ET) -- Alternative rock cult heroes the Flaming Lips celebrated the release of their latest album, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, with a small club gig in Los Angeles Wednesday (July 17) for its faithful fans, some of whom reportedly paid more than $250 for tickets with a face value of $20.

The Knitting Factory show was witnessed by a capacity crowd of 529. At least one ticket was purchased for $265 through an online auction site, while Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne commented on hearing that others were scalped elsewhere for nearly that much.

"If you did indeed pay 250 bucks to get in tonight, we'll make it worth your while," Coyne said from the stage. He then announced, "Hits of LSD backstage!"

The Oklahoma City trio showcased only a handful of songs from Yoshimi, focusing instead on tracks from its acclaimed 1999 release The Soft Bulletin. Other highlights included the group's biggest hit, 1995's "She Don't Use Jelly," and a dirge-y version of pop star Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head."

The hour-plus show offered much of what fans have grown to expect from the cutting-edge group--a multimedia extravaganza that featured hand-held smoke machines, hand puppets, giant balloons, massive amounts of confetti, fake blood, and roadies dressed as frogs and dogs.

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots arrived Tuesday (July 16) from Warner Bros. Records.

-- Neal Weiss, Los Angeles

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