Photo Gallery: The Flaming Lips at The Salt Shed • Chicago

Brassneck | August 17, 2025

The Flaming Lips

The Salt Shed

Chicago, IL

August 16th, 2025

Recap and photos by Curt Baran

Mother Nature was determined to spoil the evening. The Flaming Lips said, “Hold my beer!” Severe storms rolled through Chicago’s near West Side this past Saturday night, threatening to shut down a sold-out show at The Salt Shed. Ma Nature did indeed successfully pinch off a set from openers (co-Headliners?) Modest Mouse, limiting them to a handful of tunes, before shelter-in-place instructions were implemented.
After a nearly ninety-minute delay, the stage crew scrambled to salvage at least a portion of the evening. With a lightning-free window in place, The Flaming Lips set out to seize every available moment. Opener “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots” was performed under an army of four inflatable robots (pink, of course) that threatened to dwarf lead singer Wayne Coyne. Equal parts mystic, carnival barker, and your weirdest uncle, he deftly navigated his way through the Lips’ blend of art rock, psychedelic noise, and pop sensibilities. The late start and tight curfew found him sucking the marrow from both himself and the audience, determined to raise the temperature from the gathered, sold-out throng and his performance. The band still somehow managed to will a dozen songs into existence, each pushed along by both exuberance and the urgency to race the approaching menace that was the radar on everyone’s weather apps. Chicago’s very own Friko, also forced into an abbreviated set, continues to prove that they are very much the real deal.