There is something cosmically unfair and maybe a little un-American about Halloween falling on a Monday this year. The burden, henceforth, falls on the activities of the weekend before to provide a degree of mischievous fun and a sense of the fantastic.
Looking at the lineup of the first Vegoose musical festival in Las Vegas, there's a fair amount of dress-up on the lineup to make for the scheduling flap. The Arcade Fire are sure to don their finest "Funeral" garb alongside The Decemberists, who dress so often as larger-than-life literary figures that it will come as second nature. Beck and Dave Matthews may dust off their '90s clothing and have a good chuckle at the idea of flannel reigning over music with cowboy glamour nipping at its heels.
The Flaming Lips, too, are always up for a dive into the fantastic. Their live show consistently taps into the bizarre and touching atmosphere of the neo-psychedelic soundscape crafted on every record. Lead singer Wayne Coyne has been at the helm of their odyssey for over twenty years. Throughout the journey of the group from an art-house acquired taste in Oklahoma to critical and commercial triumph, his sense of humor and goodwill has kept the band sincere while never losing the playfulness that have kept them sane.
Speaking from his home, where work is continuing on a new LP slated for early next year, Coyne has limitless pep and a sunny outlook on the days ahead. His 45-year-old larynx defies time, retaining the wisdom of things lost but sounding youthful all the same. Without preface, he would sound 25 with two records under his belt.
"We've released 12 or 13 recordings over the years, not really sure," confessed Coyne half laughing at the unsure observation.
The question of the hour was how their set at Vegoose would be affected by their voyage into new artistic places.
"I can understand it may be true for younger artists, but we're really recording all the time, so it's not a burden to us at all," Coyne said.
The singer's words shifted to why the weight of artistic fulfillment will be non-existent during the festival, slated for the weekend of Oct. 29.
"We're living the greatest musical life that can ever be lived," asserts Coyne with neither bluster nor ego. "We have a great audience which expects new and exciting things from us, a record label that gives us our freedom. There's no real pressure or stress, people aren't coming just to see The Flaming Lips. A show where there are so many other bands, people are coming to meet with friends and we're just part of their enjoyment."
Coyne's statement was brief but, like the creative output of The Flaming Lips, long on ideas and brightly reflective. For the Vegoose audience of 50,000 that will pour into the Sam Boyd Stadium, the lights of the Vegas strip will seem that much brighter when The Lips lift the venue to the stratosphere for a better glance at life on Earth.
