You knew this was coming. The Flaming Lips enjoy covers as much as they love feather boas, blood and glitter, so a dedication to David Bowie was inevitable, and it manifested itself in Aspen, where the Lips played a pair of shows that were billed to have an “extended Bowie set.” The 40-minute medley’s were weird, and very “Flaming Lips“, which means Bowie was probably grooving in heaven, pleased. Here’s the setlist:
Space Oddity
Life on Mars?
Five Years
Ziggy Stardust
Fame
The Man Who Sold The World
Golden Years
Ashes to Ashes
Flaming Lips fans know that Bowie’s been an influence on the band for years, and this wouldn’t be the first time they’ve performed one of his songs. They used to play The Man Who Sold The World regularly in the early 2000’s, and they wrote the questionably-named Is David Bowie Dying back in 2012. As a bunch of freaky dudes with a fascination with space and makeup, losing Bowie was a gut punch. But lead Flaming Lip Wayne Coyne put Bowie’s greatness in perspective.
“It doesn’t do him justice when people think he was from outer space. He did stuff and tried to do stuff to express himself like all of us do. He became a magical being but he wasn’t a magical being. He was just a person. And that’s what makes it more sad and makes us even more grateful that we get to do this special show.”
Maybe a Bowie cover album with (insert random and unexpected collaborator here) is next for the Lips?
(Via Rolling Stone)
