Music festival fails

Like many bands that make mediocre music, the Flaming Lips have built a solid reputation on performance. At the Ottawa Bluesfest this month, the show included twenty-or-so costumed stage dancers, exploding paper missiles and sexy/weird psychedelic videos of naked ladies. And we can't forget lead singer Wayne Coyne's signature entrance: emerging cloaked in a clear plastic mass of material that inflates into a hamster-ball. I've got to hand it to him, Coyne crowdsurfs like no other.

The only problem: I saw the exact same performance three years ago. Right down to the "off-the-cuff" banter. And based on a quick youtube search, it seems as though the Lips haven't reinvented their performance in even longer.

I mean, I get that they hit the nail on the head when they designed this show. But... really? Years and years of the same performance is weaksauce. Even the some of the song introductions were almost identical, making them come off contrived and insincere. No, namedropping Obama didn't make Coyne's usual anti-war speech before 'Do You Realize' much fresher.

I'm not asking for an entire redesign. Coyne can keep his hamsterball of comfort. But I wonder how a band built on gimmicks can maintain a loyal fanbase when they don't at least add some new tricks or update their look from time to time.

IN OTHER FESTIVAL FAIL NEWS, Kings of Leon are total divas. They walked off a St. Louis stage after playing only three songs, because of birds... at an outdoor festival. Read on.