When one thinks of bands with live shows almost guaranteed to induce happiness and smiles, Oklahoma City’s Flaming Lips, led by the ever charismatic Wayne Coyne, are one of the first bands that come to mind. The over the top show has become somewhat of a spectacle, but underlying it all is a solid set of great tunes and a band who is just out to make people happy, if even for a few hours. I’d seen the band live once before at the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago and was among the fans who had a smile on my face from start to finish. But despite Pitchfork Fest being one of the more “intimate” festivals, I was still beyond excited to see a proper Flaming Lips show at an indoor venue and was thrilled to get the chance to shoot the show and see the madness up close and personal.

The stage was as colorful as I’d ever seen and the band was took charge in setting up their own gear and doing their own soundchecks, chatting the the fans up front the whole time. Coyne came out and made some announcements before the show even began, telling everyone that he would try to make it over the whole crowd in his trademark orb so there was no need to try to get to wherever he was. It’s this sort of not-taken-too-seriously approach that makes this band such a crowd favorite. I met two young ladies in the front row who were Flaming Lips super fans and who the band knew just from seeing them in the front row at so many shows. They were thrilled to be at their first show in over a year, and the band seemed happy and surprised to see them too. Another photographer commented to me that this was already one of the more unusual shows he’s been to before it even began. I told him that he had no idea yet.

The band took the stage in their usual fashion, emerging from behind their video screen while Coyne arose like a Phoenix into his bubble before rushing into the crowd. The stage dancers this time were in the theme of The Wizard of Oz with a plethora of Dorothy’s with a few lions, tin men and scarecrows rounding things out. Let me tell you, being in a photo pit for a Flaming Lips show is an entirely different experience than being in the middle of a festival crowd, and it’s one I’m probably not going to forget for a good long time.

Near the end of the show, Coyne took a moment to thank the enthusiastic crowd for making the night so special. He said that sometimes people think their shows are a little over the top, and that maybe they are. But that there were likely some fans in the crowd who were just having a tough time in life right now, and if the band was able to make them forget about that for a couple of hours and put a smile on their faces, even if just temporarily, then they’ve accomplished their goal.

This is one of those shows where it will do me no justice to try to describe the energy and enthusiasm in words, so I will just let a whole bunch of pictures do the talking. I couldn’t narrow down to less than 60 pictures, so in lieu of posting them all below, you can check out the rest on our flickr page. This definitely wins the award for my most colorful photo set.

Flaming Lips – Silver Trembling Hands