Flaming Lips Announce More ‘Space Bubble Concerts’ For March

https://www.facebook.com/flaminglips – Space Bubble Concerts: March 12-13

UPDATE: Two more Space Bubble shows have been added March 11 and March 14. According ot the Criterion’s website, all four scheduled nights in March are sold out.

The members of the Flaming Lips are headed back to their space bubbles and are inviting more fans to join in on the fun with the announcement of two more “Space Bubble Concerts” at The Criterion in the band’s hometown of Oklahoma City, Okla.

The shows take place March 12-13 and tickets go on sale Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 10 a.m. CST at CriterionOKC.com. Each bubble has a capacity for up to three people and the tickets are sold as such, according to the website. Attendees must sign a COVID waver, which is available on the venue’s website and will also be found in ticket buyers’ confirmation email, before attending the concert.

The Lips debuted its first COVID-safe Bubble Concerts Jan. 23-24 at the 3,500 capacity Criterion, featuring a reduced capacity audience of 100 fans in hamster ball-like bubbles, following a trial run in October and a June 11 Bubble Concert appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The January shows were originally scheduled in December but were pushed back because of coronavirus cases in the area.

Scott Booker – The Flaming Lips
perform a trial run of their bubble show at The Criterion in Oklahoma City.

“You get in the bubble when it’s deflated. And then there’s a zipper that’s about two or three feet long. It’s a reverse birth, and you’re going back into the womb. And then we blow the womb up, and you’re in there,” Flaming Lips manager Scott Booker told Pollstar ahead of the January shows.

He added, “We put a couple bottles of water in there and a towel in case it gets too hot and sweaty. You can wipe it off. We felt like the sound wasn’t great, so we’ve set up an FM transmitter. So we’ve got these little extra speakers that people are going to be given, too, and carrying around their neck. But we add some high end into the bubble. It’s plenty loud in there. It’s like a regular show.”

Although an audience in bubbles is a new concept – as the Criterion’s website declares – “the World’s first space bubble concerts” – frontman Wayne Coyne has been crowd surfing over fans in his own bubble for more than 15 years. Coyne first showed off his signature space bubble during the Lips’ 2004 appearance at Coachella.