The softest bullet ever shot

The last time I saw The Rapture, I wrote about it pretty coherently.

The last time I saw The Flaming Lips, though, I didn't half babble about it:

By the end of the Flaming Lips' set, there were many people in tears. No point in shitting about, this was the best gig I've ever seen. Bar none. It would be too easy to be distracted by everything going on around the music, and there was a lot, but the point is, the Flips' songs are strong enough to stand up alongside such panto. Even though they play my favourite four songs as the first four, the rest of the gig is just as exciting, warm, unforgettable...

It's rare to see a frontman so pleased to be playing live. "London's where it all started for us, thanks so much" he says at one point. There's a long ramble about how he saw Husker Du live once, and Bob Mould's a weird guy, and some people have only come to the gig to see their friends and do coke. They do a neo-gothic cover of 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head', which isn't much cop, but is preceded by Wayne showing us his "droopy ass". Before 'How Will We Know?' he says "Science has proven that the most exciting sound that humans can hear is the sound of other humans." Throughout the song, which is very quiet, there is ridiculous cheering, and it's like being at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party.

In the nearly five years since then, I've moved to a new country, seen many more gigs, met the Godlike Genius Wayne Coyne, but that show remains the best I've ever seen.

Next week, both bands are playing in a field here - five minutes' walk from where I live. For free. I'm more than a little bit excited. Even though 'At War With The Mystics' was pretty toss, I'm sure it'll be ace. To celebrate, here's a live version of my favourite Flips song.

[download The Flaming Lips - The Spark That Bled (live)]