The Flaming Lips' Strategy In The Middle Of Pandemic, Concert In A Bubble

JAKARTA - Since the COVID-19 pandemic stung the planet in March last year, all business sectors have been paralyzed, including the music industry.

Various innovations were then carried out, such as online concerts, drive-thru concerts, and many others. But in fact, nothing can replace the thrill of watching a face-to-face concert. Currently, musicians are starting to perform with a recording system. But still, nothing is quite as beautiful as when they meet an audience in person.

The Flaming Lips, a band from Oklahoma found a solution to overcome their longing for live music. On 11 June 2020, the band appeared on The Late Show of Stephen Colbert.

Appearing in the studio, The Flaming Lips made an adaptation with a gig in a bubble. Uniquely, the audience who had the opportunity to see this band also fell into the bubble.

The studio audience's interaction with The Flaming Lips was limited due to the bubbles, but they still sang Race For the Prize excellently.

Judging by the video commentary column of The Flamming Lips performance, netizens praised the way the band performed. One of them said, using bubbles is a unique and suitable way to educate about social distancing.

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First Concert with Similar Concept

On Friday, January 22, 2021, The Flaming Lips held the World's First Space Bubble Concert or the world's first bubble concert. The band that performs Do You Realize?? uses a bubble loop where the audience can watch their favorite band safely. The promoter provides 100 bubbles including for The Flaming Lips members.

Through a number of videos uploaded by fans on social media, The Flaming Lips sang some of their hits, including Race For the Prize, She Don't Use Jelly, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1, and others.

Perhaps many are wondering where the existence of the bubble as a concept for their concert came from. In fact, this idea was initiated by The Flaming Lips frontman, Wayne Coyne on the first day of lockdown.

In his interview with Consequence of Sound last year, Coyne said, “I made little cartoons. I drew myself. (Image) It's The Flaming Lips in 2019, and I'm the only one in the bubble on stage".

Then when he drew The Flaming Lips in 2020, Wayne Coyne and the rest of the members were in the bubble. "Is this strange?", he said at the time.

Together with his band members, Coyne discussed the concept of appearing in a bubble. Prior to holding a concert with Criterion, The Flaming Lips conducted various experiments, including appearing on the television shows Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon.

Coyne remembers the time when booking talent from the Colbert show contacted him to perform but with the concept of performing from home. This 60-year-old musician showed his sketch to the team and they wanted to try it.

All the bubbles used by The Flaming Lips were shipped from China. However, because they couldn't wait long, Colbert's team started buying bubbles from various online shops. The end result is that there are 20 people in the studio including several viewers who can watch The Flaming Lips in a bubble.

When they appear on television, an adaptation process is carried out. The audience was not aware of the X they had to stand on, but slowly they understood the plot.

Future Concerts

“For me personally, I think streaming doesn't work very well, it doesn't fill the void when going to concerts. Yeah, it's not like going to a concert. "The things I find when streaming look awkward, they don't sound good, and I don't know if it's working well", said Wayne Coyne.

The Flaming Lips found an innovation that could make them appear at a concert. At first, they only managed to last a few minutes in the bubble, now they can bring the 80-minute set to his performance.

“I feel like our concerts, what we do, are honestly safer than going to the supermarket. You go to the supermarket and some people wear masks, but some people act like it's okay. You can't do anything", said Coyne.

The Flaming Lips themselves are known as a band that always uses new breakthroughs in their performances and this is also true in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Coyne et al. Strive to make their concert a safe environment.

The Flaming Lips thought, if they keep performing like this 3-4 times, they'll feel tired. But Coyne remembers that there are many viewers who have families. The Flaming Lips are willing to use the bubble concept like this so that the audience can watch the concert with a sense of security.

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