For a self-acknowledged curmudgeon, I can say pragmatically that seeing the Flaming Lips is one of the most fun experiences you will have at a concert. While the band has almost definitely become at least mildly complacent with its streamers and confetti freakshow, the act works, as proved by the massive crowd the band drew to close out the Pitchfork Music Festival. The group, which was playing as part of the “Write the Night” portion of the fest, mixed concert staples with a few rarities that were treats for the die-hard fans. (I will say that Wayne Coyne’s cherry picking was frustrating—either play the songs that were voted on or don’t.) While some people may tire of the well played out antics of Coyne and the gang, I have to say I haven’t reached that point yet. The set was bookended by standards “Race for the Prize,”and “Do You Realize” and featured such lesser known fare as “Bad Days” and “Enthusiasm for Life Defeats Internal Existential Fear, Progressive.” While I would listen to arguments that the set was too heavy on show and not enough on quality music (especially Coyne’s singing), the overall experience is something that I will vehemently defend as one of the most fun experiences you can have at a concert. It certainly was for me as it turned out to be one of my favorite sets from the whole weekend. [Josh Keller]

All weekend long the energy and attention of nearly everyone at the Pitchfork Festival was building towards one set: the Sunday night headlining spot by the Flaming Lips. Nearly all of the day’s 18,000 attendees were in front of the Aluminum Stage awaiting the festivities that would close out the Festival (I feel bad for the Very Best, who were playing opposite the Lips on the Balance Stage as I’m sure they would’ve had a larger turnout if the timing would’ve been different). Frontman Wayne Coyne had already made his presence felt throughout the day, walking around the grounds and watching as many bands as he could. Unfortunately, he couldn’t resist firing confetti cannons into the crowd during Grizzly Bear’s set, distracting many in attendance with his antics. I thought that move was a little egotistical and dickish, to be honest. Coyne and the Lips would certainly have their time in the spotlight later in the night, why did he have to infringe on Grizzly Bear’s moment in the sun?

At this point in time the Flaming Lips set has become more about spectacle than about music; Coyne did the bubble walk over the crowd that I’ve seen the last three or four Lips shows I’ve been to, they had the customary dancers on the side of the stage egging the crowd on, and confetti, streamers and balloons were everywhere. All of that makes for quite a spectacular sight and it’s hard not to be completely won over by the pomp and audacity of it all. So smiles were plastered on the faces of everyone around me, which is exactly what an act like the Flaming Lips aimed for, and you can’t find any fault in the extravaganza unfolding in front of you.

Musically however, the set left a lot to be desired. The band brazenly decided not to follow the voting of the fans, even after agreeing to take part in the “Write The Night” set list after an initial mix up in the announcements leading up to the show. Coyne would tell us where each song they were going to play ended up on the list, and also telling us that he “Already knew what the fans wanted to hear.” So, they ended up playing the number one vote getter (”Do You Realize”) but not the second or others at the top of the list. A small quibble, sure, but even the songs they did play didn’t really resonate much with me either. “Race For The Prize” is always great, but “Fight Test” was really slowed down and stripped of nearly all of its bombast, and “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1″ was nearly a cappella, with Coyne encouraging us to sing as loud as he was. It was quite a kick to hear “Bad Days” (which Coyne dedicated to Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis) for the first time since the band played it in Minneapolis in 1999 (as part of the International Music Against Brain Degeneration Revue “Headphone” concert at First Avenue, which I was lucky enough to be at). But again, focusing on the music and what the Flaming Lips played and didn’t play causes you to lose sight of the incredible display of jubilance taking place both on the stage and in the crowd, so it’s best to just surrender to the mayhem and enjoy yourself. And that is just what all 18,000 of us were doing as the Flaming Lips closed out Pitchfork 2009 on an absolute high. [Erik Thompson]

I wish I had more to say about the Flaming Lips set, but honestly, the more compelling of the two simultaneous shows on Sunday night was the Very Best playing on the out of the way “B” stage. After suffering through a sweaty Flaming Lips pit packed to the brim with photographers, my first thought was to get as far from the crowd as possible—which made the Very Best’s small audience the perfect destination. In addition, the band’s set was absolutely sick. Though I am pretty unfamiliar with its work, I recognized covers of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” as well as Vampire Weekend’s “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.” Additionally “Warm Heart of Africa,” the upcoming Ezra Koenig collaboration was played, and sounded stellar. While the rapping and Radioclit’s prodigious sampling were nice, it was the band’s underlying African rhythms that got my pulse pounding, and a warm dark night on Union Park’s tucked away stage was the perfect conduit for TVB’s upbeat sound. Wandering back to the Flaming Lips set after, I couldn’t get anywhere near the stage. Though I enjoyed the wrapping up of the show (particularly a slowed down rendition of “Fight Test”) there was a definite lack of intimacy, even when Wayne Coyne led the cord in singalongs. Yeah I love the Lips as much as anyone, and I still think that Coyne is a hell of a guy. On Sunday night though, I feel like the place to be was seeing the Very Best. [Jon Behm]

At times, the world is a beautiful place; one of life’s better reminders of this is a Flaming Lips concert. The Lips’ performance at the Pitchfork Music Festival was one of the most entertaining sets I’ve ever seen—even if it was entirely predictable, it was the good kind of predictable. Spinning a few rarely played songs into a set heavily made up of the band’s typical live selections, Wayne Coyne and the band unleashed a wave of balloons, confetti and positivity onto the massive audience. The downside to the performance was the band’s inconsistent musical selections, though in all honesty the band could’ve played a set consisting entirely of Spaghetti Western instrumentals (actually, that might’ve been pretty cool), but the upside was the most enjoyable performance of the weekend. [Chris DeLine]

[photos by Jon Behm, videos by Josh Keller]

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Also: The Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth & the Magic Numbers @ Minnesota State Fair