Girl at the Rock Shows

I’ve been trying to focus on local and smaller shows this year, but every once in a while, a big show pops up and I can’t resist. Friday night was one of those shows. Not only was I going to witness the positive and creative energy that is The Flaming Lips, but I was also going to see Modest Mouse again for the first time since 2019 and learn what Friko is all about. Yeah, this wasn’t my typical “small” show, but who was I to say no to this fantastic opportunity of not only covering, but also photographing two legendary bands and one new-to-me band.

Let’s start with the new-to-me band- Friko. Friko is a band from Chicago, Illinois, with a sound that is as familiar as it is fresh. There were moments when the vocals reminded me a bit of Bright Eyes. They were calm and chill but had this energy and angst behind it that shone during moments of subtle angst that sparkled throughout their thirty minutes on stage. At other times, Friko hit me like any great indie-pop band out there with infectious beats and bright vocals. Whatever vibe this band was hitting me with, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Something about this band was just so emotional and so raw. It was seriously one of the most honest performances I have ever seen take place on the giant stage of The Armory in Minneapolis. It was the perfect blend of accessible and innovative, all presented in a ball of energy that was impossible to ignore. Friko has been around since 2019 and released their first full-length album, ‘Where We’ve Been, Where We Go From Here,’ last year. Although that album got a bunch of great reviews, I feel like it’s been flying under the radar. That won’t last. This band is going to make waves, and I can’t wait to look back on their set on Friday night and remember that one time I saw them opening rather than headlining shows of this size because, mark my words, it’s just a matter of time.

Modest Mouse is a household name. Even if you don’t know that name, you know some of their songs. We all have memories attached to certain bands. Bands that hit us at a particular time leaving lasting impressions that we just can’t shake. Modest Mouse is absolutely one of those bands for me. The year was 2004. I was around 15 and working at a local record shop. I was young for this shop, but I already knew that I needed my own money if I was going to continue going to concerts nightly and buying a black T-shirt from each band. It was a small, local shop with just a few workers. One of those, Meadow, was a woman whom I idolized. Although she was much more hippy than I ever could be, there was something about her energy that I just really liked. I remember walking into this record shop one day, and she was jamming ‘Good News for People Who Love Bad News.’ It was the first time I walked into this shop, and it wasn’t Steve Earle or the Dead, and I was in love. This has nothing to do with Friday night’s show, but that’s where my head went as soon as Modest Mouse opened up their set with “The World at Large.”

I didn’t recognize all of the songs that Modest Mouse played throughout their thirteen-song set, but I know that I loved each of them with all of my heart. The sound of Modest Mouse is a cool blend of indie rock and jam band-style instrumentation. I loved the way that all of their little intricacies in all of their song really popped during their performance on Friday night. Whether it was the one song that used an upright bass or the way that one of the percussionists would hit a metal bin rather than an actual drum to produce the perfect sound, I loved the attention to detail from this group. Another thing I really loved is the audibles that vocalist Isaac Brock seemed to call. Although there definitely was a setlist for the night, I feel like there were a couple of times where he called an audible. He admitted that he had been talking too much, so the band had to cut a song or two, but I didn’t mind. Modest Mouse had played songs that I wanted to hear, songs that made me want to dive back into this storied band and their seven-album discography that I have been less than loyal to. Long story short, Modest Mouse has been around for decades, and they have had many changes over the years (Isaac Brock is the only remaining original member at this point), but this band has not changed. They continue to thrill audiences with their unique sound and flawless yet free-feeling performances.

Closing out Friday night’s stacked show was the one and only Flaming Lips. You can call them indie rock, psychedelic rock, indie pop, straight-up weird, whatever you want to call them, the Flaming Lips are a band with a show that can’t be missed, and I was beyond excited to get to experience it again for the first time in a couple of years. I honestly don’t know the music of this band that well. I find it oddly sleepy when listening to it at home, and it just doesn’t get my blood pumping like other bands do. That being said, their live show hits completely different. It’s like a kid in a candy shop. I like to think that, when planning a tour, vocalist Wayne Coyne lays out everything that he wants to happen. Fireworks, confetti, glitter, giant inflatables, more confetti, guns that shoot out streamers, more fireworks, dancing aliens wearing glittery outfits– the whole works– and, somehow, the crew figures it out. There was so much to see that, at many points throughout the oddly short-feeling set on Friday night, I completely forgot that I was watching a band. It felt more like watching an artistic performance, and I’m okay with that.

From what I could tell, this was a standard Flaming Lips set at the beginning. We got to hear some hits like “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)”, “Jelly”, and, of course, “Do You Realize??”, but then, as the band came back on for an encore, things changed. Joined on stage by Isaac from Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips performed a cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” It was an interesting, intense song choice for such a chill band, but I loved how they made it their own. I also loved how Wayne and Isaac interacted throughout the track. It was like watching two best friends mess around on stage and forgetting that they were performing in front of thousands of fans. There was just something so informal and fun about the joint performance, and it was almost a bummer when Isaac left so The Flaming Lips could close out the encore with “Race for the Prize” because I was loving watching the interaction between them. That being said, closing out the set with Wayne in a giant bubble was a heck of a visual to leave on.

Friday night’s show had it all. Amazing music, energy, and stunning visuals, but what really struck me about this show was the number of times Wayne mentioned to the crowd that he loved them. The Flaming Lips are a huge band, but Wayne admitted that, if he could, he would get in the crowd right away to hug everyone and tell them each, individually, that he loves them. I’ve heard bands say this many times before, but there was something genuine about the sentiment when coming from Wayne Coyne. Sure, he’s a megastar, but here he was, being raw, emotional, and honest. Sure, I feel a little guilty for covering this big show on Friday night when there were dozens of smaller shows happening around town full of local bands that would die for some coverage, but I’m so glad that this is how I decided to spend my night.

Line Up:

Friko

Modest Mouse

Flaming Lips

Venue: Armory

Smell-O-Meter: Subtle whiffs of the devil’s lettuce

Average Age of the Crowd: 38

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 1 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None Noticed

Spotted Flying Through The Air- So.Much.Confetti

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 1

Idiots Taken Out By Security – 0

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

Friko – 0

Modest Mouse – 2

Flaming Lips – 4

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score – 9.2 out of 10

Show on Deck — Annie & The Bang Bang / The Flamin’ Oh’s

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