by Gianluigi Marsibilio (@gmarsibilio)
The celebration of a record like The Soft Bulletin is right and indeed it's wonderful to find in a live publication of Flaming Lips, the necessary cue for listening again to the incredible songs of a release published in 1999. The live album was directly linked to the celebrations at the historic Red Rocks venue in Morrison, Colorado. The occasion was unique also because it involved directly Wayne Coyne and co. with a real symphonic orchestra that gave a new, monumental key to the songs of a monumental record.
Touching and unprecedented versions of songs such as "Waitin' for a Superman" or "Feeling Yourself Disintegrated," are at the heart of the album, it is indeed touching to note that many of the spontaneous reactions of the audience were not edited and deleted from the live record, but were left as a background, an extra musical addition that describes the show of The Flaming Lips.
In the decision to add a new chapter to The Soft Bulletin saga there is the need to find a new key to the record. A gem like The Soft Bulletin, in a rather endless record catalogue, is always rare, in fact every touch of reverberated guitar is accompanied by an overall structure of the musical landscape that is unique.
The Flaming Lips, in the new chapter of the saga, have been able to combine the psychedelic charge of the record with the delicacy of the symphony, all this has created a real musical orgy that stimulates us, and puts us in a very rich context.
The madness of the lyrics and the roughness of the original record is returned in terms of performance by Coyne who integrates his oneiric language with the majesty of a symphonic orchestra. The choice to bring the record into a classical dimension does not take away the experimental and innovative thrust of the work, on the contrary it integrates it into a new sound system for such a band.
The Flaming Lips with The Soft Bulletin have built very precise poetics, even in the way of performing, but this concert shows how the coherence of one of the greatest rock bands on the planet can be reinforced and can find new topics thanks to the introspection and depth of classical music. Psychedelia and Bach can go hand-in-hand and convolve, at least in the universe of The Flaming Lips.