Flaming Lips Won't Go to the 'Dark Side' on Spring Tour

Just days before the Flaming Lips kick off a spring trek on April 15, frontman Wayne Coyne is going down to the wire with tour prep. "We're leaving tonight," Coyne announces to Spinner with considerable gusto. "I just got through putting the final touches on some of these images that play behind us on giant video screens and we've been adding new songs to our set and rehearsing."

Coyne says the new set is unlikely to include material from the band's punked-up cover of Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon,' which will be physically released on vinyl on April 17 and on CD on May 5. As previously reported, the only planned performance of the full album is at Bonnaroo on June 11, when the band will play the album in its entirety after its normal set.

"At Bonnaroo, that's quite normal. It's open-ended when you take a midnight slot. It's part of the trip of playing at Bonnaroo. The bands they pick to end the night on one of these stages, [it's an] anything goes kinda thing," Coyne says. "When we suggested 'We'll do 'Dark Side Of The Moon' at 2AM on Friday,' I don't think anyone was surprised."

For now, the Oklahoma art rock vets will concentrate on their still-new album, 'Embryonic,' which was released last fall. According to Coyne, new set additions include 'Worm Mountain,' 'Powerless,' 'The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine' and 'Convinced of the Hex.'

"We'll be doing quite a bit of the new record. We have so much material to pick from. There are times when we just think 'Let's just play some of this new junk and rock out for a bit.' Some of it is very radical music to play," he adds. "There's a calamity happening onstage and that's a lot of fun. Bits of our show have become very choreographed: the space bubble and the confetti, things that have moments where you do them. Then there are other moments where you just kind of get chaotic. You're not sure what all the stuff is; you just play and it's radical, especially with the caliber of the guys in the group. We never get tired of the old stuff, but to play new stuff is thrilling."