This run will see the seven-piece band performing in iconic UK venues such as Leeds’s Stylus or London’s O2 Forum in Kentish Town, closing the tour at the Galway Int’l Arts Fest in Galway, Ireland. Along with this announcement, the band has also revealed the first-ever vinyl release of ‘The Soft Bulletin Companion’, a promotional record of rarities from the era of 1999 ‘The Soft Bulletin’: it will contain unreleased material, outtakes, early mixes, B-sides, international bonus tracks, and stereo versions of songs from their previous album ‘Zaireeka’. This treat for the fans will see the light of day exclusively for Record Store Day, on June 12^th. The vinyl will be pressed onto a silver double-LP and only 16,000 copies will be made available worldwide, solely in independent record stores. However, the album will be made more widely available later on in the year.

Earlier this year, The Flaming Lips performed a futuristic live concert in Oklahoma City, their hometown. Indeed, they manage to organise a live concert – with an audience – in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the audience members standing in their own inflatable balls, just like frontman Wayne Coyne’s own bubble, in which he usually rolls over the crowd in during the band’s gigs. Each plastic bubble could hold up to three audience members who belonged to the same household, and band members also performed in their own individual bubble. With 100 guests and Coyne showing a balloon stating ‘FUCK YOU COVID-19′, the band clearly marked a milestone in this pandemic. Now, they are ready to return for good.

All UK and Ireland tour dates below:

25/05/2021 – Stylus – Leeds
26/05 – Invisible Wind Factory – Liverpool
30/05 – Waterside Theatre – Aylesbury
1/06 – De La Warr Pavilion – Bexhill
2/06 – O2 Forum Kentish Town – London
22/07 – Galway Int’l Arts Fest – Galway

The band has used the bubbles in the past as a show-prop, however, this marks the first time they have used this technique as a safety protocol. Wayne Coyne, the bands lead, held up balloons that read ‘FUCK YOU COVID-19′, marking the occasion as a clear moment in the pandemics history. Each plastic bubble can hold up to three people, dedicated to those who are in the same household.

The Bubble Show is scheduled to come to the UK, as The Flaming Lips have not yet postponed their summer EU tour. However, the rules and regulations will be different considering the UK has more strict restrictions in place because of the new UK variant of the disease. As many concerts and festivals, including the famed Glastonbury Festival, have already been cancelled it is still to be determined whether The Flaming Lips will postpone the fast approaching dates.

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A post shared by Wayne Coyne (@waynecoyne5)

The band has sold-out arenas in the States and is currently undergoing their Bubble concerts until the Spring when they will take it over seas. The Oklahoma City first Bubble Show was preformed over the weekend, however, it was originally scheduled for December but was pushed due to safety concerns surrounding the Covid-19 Christmas resurgence.

American Head has great relevance to Covid-19 as it is riddled in wistful dreams of a better time. Coyne is eager to perform this album live in the coming year despite continued world-wide safety concerns because the album has brought joy to isolated listeners in this period of international disaster.

In an interview with Brooklyn Vegan on discussing the use of the plastic bubbles, Coyne stated that he was not “not suggesting the whole world should do it this way. I’m just saying The Flaming Lips can try it this way, and if you like our music, you can come see us. You’ll have to be in one of these space bubbles, but maybe that’ll be a good thing.”

While it still remains to be seen if this space-bubble precaution will become norm in the coming years for live-concerts, it is certain that it has made history during this pandemic as one of the most extreme and spectacular safety precautions taken to bring fans a piece of the live-music they so dearly miss. Tickets for the UK/EU The Flaming Lips tour are available for purchase here and tour-dates can be found below. The groups latest album and muse for the Bubble Shows, American Head is streaming on all platforms now.

UK and Ireland tour dates for 2021 are as follows.

London listeners will be particularly delighted by news of the live summer show considering all scheduled UK and Ireland tour dates were cancelled in 2020. The loss and lack of their famous live performances led The Flaming Lips to early release new music for the fans, through UK’s Bella Union, on September 11, 2020.

.@theflaminglips are back to tour their impressively beautiful album ‘American Head’. Pushing the boundaries for more than three decades, there’s nothing quite like a #flaminglips show. They’re here on Fri 23 Jul 2021.

On O2? Priority Tickets on sale 10am Wed 14 Oct #o2priority pic.twitter.com/3b0xfbEZqO

— O2 Forum (@O2ForumKTown) October 12, 2020

The new album, titled American Head, has received positive reaction from fans and critics and this is in no doubt because of their return to American rock roots through songs that express nostalgia for the pre-pandemic American dream and moreover for the longing of better days.

While this is The Flaming Lips’ sixteenth studio album, their experimental music and connection to modernity is more prominent then ever and continues to arouse excitement in all generations. The Flaming Lips made their mark on younger generations more recently in the last decade when this quasi-rock band played with Miley Cyrus in 2015 for the co-collaborated album Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz. Collaboration with Cyrus at the height of her popularity kept The Flaming Lips relevant, just as releasing the wistful utopian album American Head is fitting now for isolated listeners wishing for the return to pre-covid life.

Considering the relevance of their new studio album, as it pertains to Covid-19, frontman Wayne Coyne is eager to perform this album live in the coming year despite continued world-wide safety concerns. Coyne recently discussed his views on scheduling new live-shows during the global pandemic saying in an interview with Brooklyn Vegan, I mean, I’m not suggesting the whole world should do it this way. I’m just saying The Flaming Lips can try it this way, and if you like our music, you can come see us. You’ll have to be in one of these space bubbles, but maybe that’ll be a good thing.

When Coyne uses the phrase ‘space bubbles’ he is not referring to the metaphorical social-distancing bubble coined by the UK’s covid-19 safety guidelines, but rather a large physical blow up bubble that crowd members would enter in order to attend in-person concerts.

 

 

 

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A post shared by Wayne Coyne (@waynecoyne5) on Sep 11, 2020 at 6:47pm PDT

These space bubbles have been used by The Flaming Lips in the past as a show-prop but the Oklahoma rock band is planning to use them for safety at their upcoming home-town show in Oklahoma City. Whether it will be incased in a bubble or not, tickets for the newly announced summer show by The Flaming Lips will go on sale this Friday, October 16th at 10 am.

UK and Ireland tour dates for 2021 are as follows.

JUST ANNOUNCED/// @theflaminglips are coming to Edinburgh @theusherhall to ‘Perform Their Masterpiece Album The Soft Bulletin’ on Thurs 5 September. Tickets on sale Friday 8 March 10am! pic.twitter.com/NMeWevOQ0W

— Regular Music (@regularmusicuk) March 6, 2019

The band will perform their classic album, to fans on their three-date tour, which will see the band commence their shows, in Edinburgh, as well as heading to Manchester, before a concluding show, London. Tickets for the performances went on sale today (March 8), at 10am.

The three-time Grammy Award winners @theflaminglips will perform their classic album ‘The Soft Bulletin’ in its entirety at @O2academybrix and @MancAcademy this September! Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am. Set a reminder here: https://t.co/dObeCIfFhP pic.twitter.com/SHxTVeRwVa — DHP Family (@DHPFamily) March 6, 2019

The band released their classic album, ‘The Soft Bulletin’, in 1999, to critical acclaim. The ninth record from the band features the singles ‘Race for the Prize’ and ‘Waitin’ for a Superman’, and following its arrival, the LP was named NME‘s album of the year. It has now been announced, two decades later, that ‘The Soft Bulletin’ will be showcased in its entirety at performances, in Edinburgh, Manchester, and London, in Autumn of this year. The three-day UK tour will conclude with a performance at Brixton Academy on September 7.

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… ok.. so… our King’s Mouth album that will be coming out on @recordstoredayus in April has Mick Jones on it… yeah Mick Jones from The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite.. he’s doing the narration … he’s on almost every song… it really it quite unbelievable.. ill post a little video clip so you can hear him … but yeah!!!!! Man!!! Sooooo cool #waynecoyne #theflaminglips #spongebobbroadway #flaminglipsconcert #flaminglips #kingsmouth @stevendrozd @scott_booker @jenstark @irreversibility @mtekbot @katyweaver @denniscoyne @kwkakwka @rockworth @nicholas_ley @spacefacemusic @oliverhibert @hein_koh @wow_elec_tron @nilerodgers @tannermariehull @wilco @waynecoyne5 @unitheband @dandeacon @mileycyrus @the_avam @gabbytwin @iiswhoiis @mtekbot @postmalone @paulsmith

A post shared by Wayne Coyne (@waynecoyne5) on Dec 4, 2018 at 7:03am PST

The Flaming Lips UK Tour Dates 2019:

05/09/2019 – Usher Hall – Edinburgh
06/09 – Manchester Academy – Manchester
07/09 – Brixton Academy – London