The Flaming Lips Performed In Giant Plastic Spheres On ‘The Late Show’

The Flaming Lips made a landmark performance last night on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, one that will likely be seen as a time capsule in the years to come. Performing quite possibly the first-ever fully fledged ‘bubble concert,’ the band performed their 1999 hit “Race For The Prize,” while inside giant plastic bubbles. Both the audience and band members were fully isolated in their own plastic orbs, and each of the band members can be seen wearing gloves and face masks for additional precautions.

If there was an award for the most creative socially distant concert, certainly The Flaming Lips would be up for the title, despite singer Wayne Coyne’s predated fascination with giant plastic spheres. The band’s bubble attire can also be seen in their latest single, “Flowers of Neptune 6,” which has Coyne wondering, or rolling around a burning landscape in a plastic orb. But have The Flaming Lips just posed ‘bubble concerts’ as another viable option for socially distant concerts?

Of course this would bring several impracticalities, and it probably doesn’t make for the best listening experience being inside a giant plastic orb, but it could be a more engaging alternative among other options. Audience capacity for one is a diminishing factor with regards to any sort of socially distant concert, and it was clearly seen at Arkansas’ first socially distanced concert which had to reduce a 1,100 seat venue to 229 seats max. At the very least, ‘bubble concerts’ could be a funny and precautionary method for artists to perform in front of a live audience on programs like The Late Show.

However, with summer on the horizon more and more artists are looking for unique ways to perform under the current pandemic climate, particularly outdoors. Earlier this week the 80’s rock band, Quiet Riot, announced they’re slated to perform a socially distanced show on 4th of July in Arkansas. The show is at Magic Springs Theme And Water Park in Hot Springs, which currently has a number of shows scheduled from June to September. It will be interesting to witness how these events turnout, and if more states across the U.S. begin to hold similar socially distant concerts.