The Flaming Lips, Ween, Sonic Youth, Magic Numbers | NY State Fair, Syracuse

Although a little late, we eventually did end up at the state fair for one of most anticipated shows of the summer for us. Unfortunately we missed the Magic Numbers, but were just in time to catch Sonic Youth’s show. SY put on an excellent set, blending songs from a multitude of their releases, and looked great for an “aging” band. Bassist Kim Gordon was stunning as she danced around the stage as she sang and rocked out on bass when she wasn’t. Clearly these guys haven’t lost it at all. They’re still putting on great shows and putting out great discs.

Ween was certainly a crowd pleaser. Their style of Tenacious D meets prog-rock meets calypso music with ridiculously absurd and lewd lyrics played well with the mostly frat-boy mentality of the audience. People went crazy for them, much more for them than Sonic Youth anyway. It was hard to understand this overwhelming response, especially when their set dragged on past the hour and a half mark.

That being said, the Flaming Lips could never play long enough. EVER. They put on a fantastic show, complete with a dozen dancing female Santas on the right, an equal number of martians on the left, confetti cannons, balloons, Captain America, Superman, The Flash, Spaceghost, giant hands, strobe lights, smoke, and three gigantic video screens showing live concert footage, Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, and the Telletubbies to name a few. Blending songs from their three most recent releases, At War with the Mystics, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Soft Bulletin, and Transmissions from Satellite Heart, the Lips had the whole audience singing along with every song. In fact they demanded it, most notably for the “Yeah Yeah Yeah Song,” which, with audience participation, sounded as though a bomb had gone off at the New York State Fair in Syracuse.

Our only complaints would be that the encore was too short, and unfortunately Wayne Coyne did not come out in a giant inflatable ball. Other than that, it was one of the best shows we’ve seen in a while, and we highly recommend you see them live as soon as you can.

Here’s the setlist:
Race For the Prize
Free Radicals
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 2
Vein of Stars
Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
The W.A.N.D.
My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion
She Don't Use Jelly
Do You Realize??
A Spoonful Weighs a Ton