The Flaming Lips play the Ryman Auditorium on May 18.
On record and on especially onstage, few bands have made rock music a more mind-bending, gimmick-fueled, gloriously chaotic experience than psych-rock vets the Flaming Lips -- and they’re only getting better with age.
Their most recent album, 2009’s Embryonic, is a fascinating freakout, but it seems like it came out a century ago, given the Lips’ laundry list of head-turning efforts since then. There’s the new four-song collection the band released as a USB drive, encased in a life-sized human skull made of “gummi” candy, or the new song (with an unprintable title) the band released via YouTube -- in 12 separate videos to be played simultaneously.
On top of these efforts, the indie rock statesmen have made friends with young guns such as Neon Indian (who released a collaborative EP with the band in March) and MGMT, who sang their hit “Kids” with the Lips and a crew of fans dressed like Wizard of Oz characters at the Beale Street Music Festival earlier this month.
Whatever Flaming Lips leader Wayne Coyne and his bandmates have in store for Nashville on Wednesday, May 18, it’s safe to say that the Ryman (116 Fifth Ave. N., 889-3060) — despite its peerless legacy — has never hosted a show quite like this.
The show starts at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are $30.50 and $40.50.