The Flaming Lips/Wheat - The Garage, Glasgow - 10th May 2000

Economical would be a good word to use in connection with WHEAT. There's not really a lot of excess associated with either the album 'Hope and Adams', nor, as it turns out, the live show. The set lasts barely half an hour and consists of only seven songs, five from 'H&A'. (This assumes that the band was just starting as we entered the venue.)

Initial impressions aren't good - the word "Tr*v*s" actually enters my head at the sight of the four serious (not so) young men gently swaying to the opening number with their eyes closed. Hang on - Tr*v*s?? Surely not.

Fortunately things get better (the Peter Capaldi look-alike drummer in particular seems to be enjoying himself) although there's a distinct feeling that little is actually being added to the recorded versions of the songs, apart from the fact that some climaxes do rock substantially more than on record ('Pedestal' and 'Raised Ranch Revolution' in particular.) My mate reckons that 'Pedestal' sounds like Depeche Mode (I can kinda see what he means) but it's all over so quickly and they're gone. I suppose seeing them live on their own might be a bit different (a feature in Uncut reckons that they’re great live) but I'm happy enough with the exquisite melodies on record at present.

And so to the main attraction. The Garage is less crowded than for Mercury Rev last year, although the floor remains comfortably busy.

I feel that the Lips are, in some ways, a heap of contradictions and tonight it shows (to coin a phrase). You know they could be one of the most aloof bands going. Certainly some of the music would suggest that they are a real art-rock band (the stuff off 'Zaireeka' and some of the 'Soft Bulletin' material), so it seems incongruous that the band themselves spend the best part of half an hour on stage before they start just getting the gear set up properly.

But of course, in person there are plenty of contradictions too. Wayne and Steven are all hale and hearty and look like they're having a whale of a time. Wayne of course rarely shuts up between songs whilst Steven is all jocular and matey, without speaking. Mr Ivans on the other hand goes for the aloof approach, although the beard and shades replace the air of the mad professor present last year supporting Mercury Rev with something a little more sinister.

Musically the schizo tendency shows itself tonight as well, even though the set is an expanded version of the set that they supported the Rev with last year. Overall the sound is less homogenous than last year, due to the addition of a couple of older songs and, ahem, a version of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow'.

The set gets off to a muddy start - the physical thump of 'Race for the Prize' is welcome, but the sound doesn't soar the way it did last year. '2020' doesn't work too well - it sounds like one song draped around another completely different one. "35,000 feet" fairs better but there's a distinct feeling, like early on last year, that this is veering dangerously towards Prog Rock territory.

Things settle down a bit through 'Feeling Yourself Disintegrate' which segues ‘Sleeping On The Roof’. 'She Don't Use Jelly' reminds us that this is a live gig and is the first highlight. Wayne's lengthy intro coupled with the band releasing lots of balloons during the song creates a real upbeat atmosphere. The glove puppets make their first appearance too. I feel like cutting a swathe through the audience to hit the front, although needless to say, mindful of the potential casualties, I don't.

'Slow Nerve Action' is next, more down for sure but the Lips sound like a proper rock band now, not some guys relying mainly on tapes. The introduction of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' confirms the feeling of well-being, a remarkable turnaround from minutes earlier (say during '35,000 feet of Despair'). It's a reasonably straight version, with Wayne encouraging the audience to singalong, whether they know the words or not.

Another oldie 'Lightning Strikes The Postman' sounds a little bit too drenched in keyboards for my liking, but 'Superman' sounds wonderful, before 'What Is The Light?' and 'The Observer' take us, satisfyingly, into dream-rock territory. I've always thought that there's some kind of unexplored euphoria in 'Why Not Smile' but this is less apparent tonight and it doesn't quite round things off in the way it might have. (Wayne's tolerance of the "audience participation" in the pauses as the song ends is worthy of note.)

One encore - a decent version of 'The Spark That Bled', complete with the fake blood so prevalent in Lips' promo shots in recent months, and that's your lot folks.

So against the odds somewhat, for a band so reliant on tapes, the Lips are a decent live band. Sure the visuals help (the conductor of the atomic orchestra for 'Race' would surely have made a great promo video on its own) and Wayne has a good way of engaging the audience. But on the other hand the set is a bit uneven as certain bits are better than others. In truth it seems that they might have been more of a blast live a few years ago, as some of the 'Soft Bulletin' stuff doesn't have the sort of raw energy live that can lift lesser songs in a live context.

Last year I saw a band at the Garage and then went to T in The Park purely to see them. If I do go to T this year, then the Lips will be the way that I finish the Sunday (for the Jelly factor if nothing else) but they're not enough of a reason on their own to go.

Wheat Set-list
1. And Someone With Strengths 2. Raised Ranch Revolution 3. No-one Ever Told Me 4. Not on Hope & Adams 5. Not on Hope & Adams 6. Don't I Hold You 7. Off The Pedestal

The Flaming Lips Set-list
1. Race For The Prize 2. Riding To Work In The Year 2020 (Your Invisible Now) 3. Thirty Five Thousand Feet of Despair 4. Feeling Yourself Disintegrate 5. Sleeping On The Roof 6. She Don't Use Jelly 7. Slow Nerve Action 8. Somewhere Over The Rainbow 9. Lightning Strikes the Postman 10. Waitin' For A Superman 11. What Is The Light? 12. The Observer 13. When You Smile
Encore - The Spark That Bled

[The Flaming Lips Index]