I have now seen America’s freakiest band perform in two of America’s freakiest cities.

The first time was last October in the annals of Hippyville, USA: San Francisco’s Treasure Island Festival.  The band performed a virtual greatest hits set speckled with obscurities and new songs while Wayne Coyne, the twisted conductor of this crazy train, danced around in his signature mad-hatter jacket-and-slacks and loose bowtie, a goofy grin on his face as he led the freakfest to the top of a psychedelic Zion.

Friday night at the Austin Music Hall, Coyne and his band of merry pranksters came to Austin to provide more of the same delirious fun.  But a lot has happened since last fall.  The band’s latest album, Embryonic, has maintained momentum on college radio, and the band responded by dedicated a larger portion of the concert to cuts from the Pink Floydian psych-rock epic like “Convinced of the Hex”, “See the Leaves” and set opener “Worm Mountain”, which was accompanied by the traditional orange confetti, streamers and balloons.

Another thing that has happened since last October was the recent and tragic death of Sparklehorse leader Mark Linkous, who took his own life earlier this month.  Coyne, who provided vocal talent to Sparklehorse’s last album (the unreleased collaboration with Danger Mouse entitled Dark Night of the Soul) was uncharacteristically somber when talking about Linkous on stage.  The band dedicated their next song, “Waitin’ for a Superman”, to Linkous.  In the song, Coyne sings, “Tell everybody waiting for Superman/That they should try to hold on as best they can”, lyrics that, maybe better than any other Lips song, recognize life’s often unfair calamities and the importance of facing them instead of hoping for a miracle.  The touching performance was both a requiem for Linkous and a plea for anybody else who faces seemingly insurmountable difficulties in life to rethink their options, even if it seems that there is only one left.

Despite the sadness surrounding Linkous’ passing, the Lips regrouped and upped the tempo for the rest of the evening, filling the second half of the show with fan favorites like “The W.A.N.D.” and “She Don’t Use Jelly”.  Coyne even played acoustic guitar for the first time ever on stage (according to the band) for the customary sing-along to “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1”.*

For those that have never seen the Flaming Lips perform live, this deserves saying, and for those that have, they can afford the reinforcement: they are a true spectacle.  They certainly are not the most technically sound or musically graceful band to ever stand on a stage in front of thousands of people, but they are one of the most fun.  A Flaming Lips show is like a comic convention, a live action role-playing game, and a rock concert combined.  Everyone can dress up in costume, act geeky, and rock out like the freaks they secretly are, and no one will judge them.

*Coyne often has a guitar in his hand during performances, but it doesn’t seem that he ever plays any chords, or that his guitar is even audible. It certainly was this time around, mistakes and all.