Watch Flaming Lips Perform ‘Yoshimi’ Closing Track Live For The 1st Time

On Tuesday, The Flaming Lips launched a series of shows celebrating the 20th anniversary of their album, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, with a concert at the Troxy in London. The band began the evening by performing the 2002 album in its entirety including the live debut of closing track “Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia).”

Frontman Wayne Coyne and his bandmates rolled through the 11 songs in the same order found on Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. The LP’s eighth track, “It’s Summertime,” hadn’t been performed publicly since May 2013 as per Setlist.FM. A number of other Yoshimi tunes have long been live staples including “Do You Realize??,” “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, Pt. 1” and “Flight Test.”

The Flaming Lips put confetti cannons to good use during their first live “Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)” performance. Coyne played a french horn as the band made its way through the instrumental.

Watch fan-shot video featuring the live debut of “Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)” below:

Last night’s second set featured material from throughout the group’s career along with a cover of Madonna’s “Borderline.” 1993 hit “She Don’t Use Jelly” kicked off the frame. The Flaming Lips then looked to 2009’s Embryonic for “Silver Trembling Hands.” Later in the set, the band’s latest LP, 2020’s American Head, was represented by “Assassins Of Youth.” From there, “Borderline” led into At War With The Mystics standout “Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung” to close the set.

The Flaming Lips went with three cuts from 1999’s The Soft Bulletin as the evening’s encore: “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate,” “A Spoonful Weighs A Ton” and “Race For The Prize.” Next up for the band is a gig at London’s Eventim Apollo on Friday.