Flaming Lips begin whirlwind 24-hour tour tonight, talk Twitter feud with Erykah Badu
Let the “Race for the Prize” begin!
Oklahoma City-based psychedelic rockers The Flaming Lips will launch an attempt at the Guinness World Records mark for most live shows in 24 hours, playing eight concerts between Memphis, Tenn., and New Orleans tonight and Thursday.
As previously reported, the Lips’ race to break Jay-Z’s record of seven shows in one day is part of the MTV’s third installment of its O Music Awards, which is a digitally driven event that recognizes artists, fans and innovators within the digital music culture. The band’s frenzied journey will be live-streamed at www.OMusicAwards.com as part of the awards, which are being billed as the world’s first 24-hour live-streamed awards show.
The O Music Awards III and the Lips’ tour will both kick off at 6:30 p.m. Oklahoma time/7:30 p.m. Eastern time.
In addition, 24 awards will be given out in the course of the 24-hour show. Country hitmaker Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton), who lives in Tishomingo, and indie rock singer/songwriter/guitarist St. Vincent (@st_vincent), a Tulsa native, are both nominated in the Must Follow Artist on Twitter category.
The Flaming Lips
Along their rapid-fire trip through the Mississippi Delta, the Lips will meet up with a variety of opening acts, including Jackson Browne, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Gary Clarke Jr. and Hunter Hayes.
The Oklahoma rockers have been finalizing details and juggling schedules and logistics for what they hope will be their record-breaking trek.
“If you had to really consider all this in the beginning, you just simply wouldn’t want to do it,” Coyne told the Associated Press in a recent interview. “Luckily, it occurs to you when you get closer and closer. I think it’s a little bit like having a baby. At the beginning of it is a lot of fun, but by the time it’s here, really it’s too late to turn back.”
As the AP notes, that analogy isn’t too far off the mark when it comes to describing the Twitter feud between Coyne and Erykah Badu, who collaborated with the Lips on a cover of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” for their “Heady Fwends” Record Store Day album. (The album earned a wider release Tuesday.)
The relationship seemed to be going great until the Lips released the nudity-filled video for “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face,” which the band eventually retracted after Badu accused the group of releasing it without her approval.
In the video Badu sits apparently naked in a tub, then later her sister Nayrok mucks about in a milky white substance and glitter. The disagreement spilled over on Twitter where Badu invited Coyne to kiss her “glittery” posterior and Coyne responded with a picture of himself with lips covered in glitter.
Coyne stopped short of saying Badu’s reaction was contrived, but told the AP she and her management certainly knew what was going down as they spent two days filming. He says her opinion changed when “easily riled” members of her audience objected.
“This is not her fault. It’s just the nature of the way Twitter works,” Coyne told the AP. “Her fans can just sometimes lash out and be as mean as they want to be, which I think is interesting. That’s the thing about Twitter — there’s no referee, you know.”
Coyne doesn’t believe anything else will come of the episode.
“Luckily I’m doing so many things I don’t have too much time to worry about it,” Coyne told the AP. “And a lot of people I run into now loved, loved that video and I think it’s true to what Erykah and I, in the beginning at least, thought we were going to show the world.”
The Lips will be joined on their record run by a number of musicians and celebrities, some performing along the way, some making appearances. Along with the live-stream online, MTV’s family of networks will offer live look-ins, according to the AP.
Recent additions to the lineup include Browne, who will ride the bus from Jackson, Miss., to Hattiesburg, Miss., where he will perform with the band, “Jackass” star Chris Pontius, Karmin and Neon Trees.
“It’s a logistics nightmare,” Coyne told the AP.
But it so like OKC’s beloved “Fearless Freaks” to try it. In honor of their quest, here is the itinerary from www.OMusicAwards.com:
Flaming Lips’ 24-hour tour
June 27
New Fumes & The Flaming Lips
Memphis, TN
Handy Park
June 27
Gary Clark Jr & The Flaming Lips & Hour Of The Time Majesty 12
Clarksdale, MS
Ground Zero Blues Club
June 27
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals & The Flaming Lips
Oxford, MS
The Lyric
June 28
Neon Indian & The Flaming Lips
Jackson, MS
Duling Hall
June 28
Hunter Hayes & The Flaming Lips & Jackson Browne
Hattiesburg, MS
Benny’s Boom Boom Room
June 28
Neon Trees & The Flaming Lips & Phantogram
Biloxi, MS
Hard Rock Casino
June 28
GIVERS & The Flaming Lips & Linear Downfall
Baton Rouge, LA
Varsity
June 28
Grimes & The Flaming Lips
New Orleans
House of Blues
-BAM
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Comments
That was supposed to say Eastern time, but I got my wires a bit crossed! Thanks for catching it and being polite about it! It’s fixed now.
- BAM
[...] in 24 hours held by Jay-Z and amounting in seven performances. The Flaming Lips, according to Bam’s Blog, are an Oklahoma City based, ‘psychedelic’ rock group, and they beat the current record by [...]
Little FYI: Memphis is in the time zone as Oklahoma City.