Get ready to follow the bouncing (inflatable, ginormous) ball, Cincinnati, because the Flaming Lips are coming to town.
The psychedelic Rock band is celebrating the long, extremely slow march toward COVID-19 eradication with the return of its always-whimsical live shows beginning this fall. The "American Head" tour — named for the album that the Lips released last year — will head to Cincinnati on April 5 at the Andrew J. Brady ICON Music Center.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, May 7.
But wait! There's more!
For the first time ever, the Flaming Lips also will release The Soft Bulletin Companion on vinyl on June 12 for Record Store Day. Originally a promo piece for the band's acclaimed 1999 album The Soft Bulletin, the new double-silver vinyl album contains B-sides, early mixes and unreleased tracks that previously only had been available on CD.
Here's what's on The Soft Bulletin Companion:
1. 35,000 ft. of Despair (5:06)
2. 1000 ft. Hands (early mix) (3:24)
3. 2025 (Invisible Now) (5:54)
4. Buggin’ (Lips mix) (3:24)
5. A Machine in India (4:09)
6. Okay I’ll Admit (4:32)
7. The Captain (5:08)
8. Satellite of You (4:33)
9. The Spiderbite Song (early mix) (4:00)
10. Slow Motion (early mix) (3:21)
11. 1000 ft. Hands (final mix) (5:51)
12. Little Hands (rough mix) (4:40)
13. The Big Ol’ Bug (4:39)
Since the coronavirus pandemic began last spring, the band has held a number of "bubble" concerts to comply with physical distancing regulations while still connecting with audiences. At those shows, each member of the Flaming Lips occupied giant translucent bubbles — and so did audience members.
Watch Coyne explain the concept and see footage from the shows during a recent segment of CBS Sunday Morning below.