P4K FOCUS (DAY THREE): The Flaming Lips Keep the Acid Flashbacks Coming

[Photos by Laura M. Gray]

By Lizz Kannenberg

The Artist: Oklahoman masters of the never-say-die rock spectacle.

Their Latest Release: At War With the Mystics (Warner Bros., 2006)

The Set in a Few Sentences: So what if Wayne Coyne and company’s Vegas carnival/acid trip schtick is a few years and several festivals old? It still works, and Coyne’s preacher-meets-cracked-out-carney-barker routine still makes you feel like you’re the guest of honor at the most awesome 6-year-old birthday party ever. The set started predictably (“Race for the Prize”) and ended the same (“Do You Realize??”), but the Lips brought their A-game with two brand new tunes and several rarities like studio B-side “Enthusiasm for Life (Defeats Internal, Existential Fear).”

And a Letter Grade: A