.

Pemberton Day 2: The Flaming Lips Chase the Elusive Freak Out

By Kaitlin Fontana
July 27, 2008 12:00 PM ET

Before you ask: It's teletubbies this tour. And even in the fading twilight heat, the folks in the suits were definitely sweating. As their puppet master floated over the crowd (okay, he kinda flopped) in his giant hamster ball, those on stage and off started dancing to "Race for the Prize." And then, as if on cue, a cloud of smoke arose. For the rest of the set, Wayne Coyne fought pot lethargy with repeated attempts to get the kids jumping. It worked sometimes, as with "Free Radicals" — getting thousands of people screamed, "Fanatical, fuck!" is one way to wake them up. But it took "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots," sung as a tender ballad, to really get the kids on his side. And when he did, Coyne looked out over his masterpiece with a beaming smile. "I'm glad you guys are freaking out," he said, before ending with the one-two punch of "Do You Realize?" and "She Don't Use Jelly." "It makes us want to freak out, too."

For complete coverage of the Pemberton Festival, check out rocknrolldiary.com.

|

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

prev
Pemberton Day 2: Hometown Heroes Black Mountain Tempt Fates
Music Main Next
Pemberton Day 2: Tom Petty Hauls in Crowds, Hits, Adoration

blog comments powered by Disqus
Stay Connected

Sign up to get Rolling Stone's daily newsletter.

Most Popular

Photos & Videos

Go To Content

Random Notes: Hottest Rock Pictures

Go To Content Play Video

Video: Premiere: Christina Perri, "Distance"

Go To Content

Gallery: Sasquatch! 2012

Best Ever Lists
500 Greatest Songs of All Time

Other Lists

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »