The Flaming Lips put on a crazy psychedelic spectacle of a show. Wayne Coyne wore a blue-silver suit and spent most of his time standing onstage with his arm in an ancient native greeting position. There was confetti everywhere. People were moshing. We all chanted the word "love" for 5 straight minutes. I wore my '80s-throwback-Kanye shades. It was a big, fun, entertaining, dazzling show. Possibly the best.
Above is Japandroids at the Urban Lounge in November 2012, $15 show. I LOVED Japandroids at this point in my life. They stood on that tiny stage with their white t-shirts & their wonderfully basic light show and played every song they ever made. I had to leave early (I left at 1:30 AM) to see a mission buddy. I was the first person there, but I was alone and uncomfortable (I was supposed to meet up with Josh Lambert), so I let a couple dudes stand in front of me. But I showed up so early and their singer Brian King talked to me. He was walking around with whom was presumably his girlfriend, he stopped and looked at me in my Vancouver Canucks Roberto Lungo jersey and said, "Nice shirt, bro." I said, "Thanks man." And he walked away. I'll never forget talking with him and I'll never forget seeing them play "The House That Heaven Built" with more raw energy than anybody I've seen onstage.
Flying Lotus at the Urban Lounge, $20 at the Urban Lounge in October 2012. It wasn't as good as the cheaper shows I've been to. I love FlyLo's jazz elements in his music, but this show was basically a rave. He stood behind his laptop pressing techno-beatz buttons and drank whiskey all night. I danced a lot, but it was kinda boring. He played a cool song he remixed with Thundercat called "Ecstasy" at the end. But he was plastered to a non-entertaining extent. I remember he pulled out a box of marijuana and said, "I got this sh*t from Vancouver!"
