Live Reviews

The 40 greatest concerts in Boston history: 25

Beck + the Flaming Lips | Orpheum Theatre | October 28, 2002

By PHOENIX STAFF | October 25, 2006

concerts_25

The Flaming Lips

It’s an understatement to say that Beck made an odd choice in hiring the Flaming Lips as the backing band for his Sea Change tour — the Lips being the quirky freak show they are and the album being Beck’s most serious and spare to date. But somehow on that night at the Orpheum, it worked. Beck began the show on a stool in front of a curtain with nothing more than an acoustic guitar. He did a handful of tunes by himself, and halfway through “The Golden Age,” Sea Change’s airy opener, the curtain was raised and Wayne Coyne and company joined in seamlessly, beautifully. Throughout the set, Coyne acted mainly as a visual diversion, letting his mates do most of the heavy lifting, which was just fine. The band provided Beck with a comfortably loose yet more-than-able backing for the kind of career-spanning set you got the sense you’d never have a chance to see again.

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Were you there? Wish you were? Seen better? Tell us about it below.

The Flaming Lips
At War With The Mystics | Reprise
''Alternative Label of the Year''
Dangerbird Records' free nominated downloads
Beck
Modern Guilt | DGC
More

Topics: Live Reviews , The Flaming Lips , Beck (Musician) , Wayne Coyne , More

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