View Full Version : Flaming Lips Alley Dedication



metro
10-12-2007, 07:26 AM
On October 25th at 11:30am join Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips for the dedication to be held on the plaza outside the Mickey Mantle entrance to AT&T Bricktown ballpark to accommodate the 40-foot stage and video screen, and the multitude of props the Flaming Lips are bringing for the occassion.



I hear Wayne and crew are going to be performing live and will be using the famous spaceship, aliens, and santas again!:fighting4

CuatrodeMayo
10-12-2007, 06:37 PM
Interesting enough, I am in Chicago and just heard acouple of hours ago a Lips song in the Macy's downtown. Made me smile.

kmf563
10-16-2007, 03:20 PM
Just in case:

What: Flaming Lips Alley Dedication

When: 11:30 AM, Thursday, October 25

Where: Outside AT&T Bricktown Ballpark (the Plaza at Mickey Mantle entrance)

Last winter, the Chamber helped pass a proposal to honor Oklahoma City's own Grammy Award-winning alternative rock band The Flaming Lips by naming an alley after them in Bricktown.

I hope you will join me on Thursday, October 25, at 11:30am, along with Mayor Mick Cornett, Burns Hargis and Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne, for the official dedication ceremony for Flaming Lips Alley.

The event will be held on the plaza outside the Mickey Mantle Dr. entrance to AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. In true Flaming Lips fashion it will be a multi-media experience, complete with 40-foot concert video screen, fans dressed in costume, and plenty of confetti cannons.

The VIP and "Red" ballpark lots off Joe Carter Ave. will be open for event parking.

ksearls
10-16-2007, 04:09 PM
It is going to be a fun event but don't think they will be performing. It will be a ribbon cutting like no other!

Kim

soonerguru
10-16-2007, 09:11 PM
I'll be there, for sure. Can someone tell me a little more about their Halloween parade, though? That sounds very promising.

metro
10-17-2007, 07:24 AM
soonerguru, if you do a search for Ghouls Gone Wild, there is at least one thread on it. I'll try and find it for you.

kmf563
10-17-2007, 08:16 AM
I'll be there, for sure. Can someone tell me a little more about their Halloween parade, though? That sounds very promising.

Here's a quick link to that site for you.
Home | Gazette's Ghouls Gone Wild (http://www.ghoulsgonewildokc.com/)

metro
10-24-2007, 09:31 AM
Just a reminder the Lips Alley Dedication is tomorrow morning at 11:30am. Ksearls have you or anyone else confirmed if they will be performing or not? The papers claim they are as stated above, however you and others on OKCTalk are stating they are not. Can anyone clarify? I figure the papers must have had a pretty solid lead to publish that the Flaming Lips are playing a FREE CONCERT.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/Oklafilmandmusic/flaminglipsalleypic.jpg

soonerfan21
10-24-2007, 09:33 AM
What: Flaming Lips Alley Dedication
When: 11:30 A.M., Thursday, October 25

Where: Outside AT&T Bricktown Ballpark (the Plaza at Mickey Mantle entrance)



Last December, the City of Oklahoma City honored Oklahoma City's own Grammy Award-winning alternative rock band The Flaming Lips by naming an alley after them in Bricktown.

On Thursday, October 25, at 11:30 a.m., please join Mayor Mick Cornett, Burns Hargis and Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne for the official dedication ceremony for Flaming Lips Alley.

The event will be held on the plaza outside the Mickey Mantle entrance to AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, at the intersection of Mickey Mantle and Flaming Lips Alley. It will be a multimedia experience, with a 40-foot concert video screen, fans dressed in costume, and plenty of confetti cannons.

The VIP and "Red" ballpark lots off Joe Carter Avenue will be open for event parking. No need to RSVP.

kmf563
10-24-2007, 09:35 AM
Wayne will be there. No full band performance, only live music on a big screen.

ksearls
10-24-2007, 09:47 AM
They will not be playing a concert and it doesn't say they will in anything that I have seen or anything distributed by DOKC or the Chamber. They are bringing lots of their concert stuff and staging but no "free concert". That being said, no one will stop them if they start playing.

It will be an awesome spectacle; it's getting world-wide press!

jbrown84
10-24-2007, 11:33 AM
The Halloween Parade is also getting international press.

metro
10-24-2007, 12:24 PM
The Halloween Parade is also getting international press.

I wonder how much international press this "Centennial Spectacular" with Reba and Vince Gill is getting which by the way has much more paid advertising for it than these small local events. The Flaming Lips generate free international press on their own merits, something we should have been using to the city's advantage years ago. Just shows how much OKC leaders and media have been out of the loop in promoting the Oklahoma and OKC music scene.

Also, I was eating in Bricktown for lunch and they were setting up the stage for tomorrow. Should be impressive hopefully!

kmf563
10-25-2007, 08:45 AM
Too bad I have to work today! I would love to be down there for that event. I hope somebody - jbrown, doug....will get some good pics for us that can't go?? you guys take better shots than most of the press.

And I will be marching with the Lips Saturday in the halloween parade!! I can't wait. I think it will be a blast!

metro
10-25-2007, 09:43 AM
I'll be there and I have my camera as always.

kmf563
10-25-2007, 10:01 AM
lucky. of course you get off work....not really fair. but hey, guess that's life.
would love to see your pics! a recap of the event would be nice too. are you going to video any of it metro?

OKCCrime
10-25-2007, 11:29 AM
It is good to see the city recognize the Flaming Lips. Lead singer Wayne Coyne seemed really excited about it all. There was plenty (or mostly) press present at the event. A few aliens and santas. Wayne let two F words slip. It seemed almost as if they were intentional. Disappointingly, there was no live music.

Okccrime

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Oklahoma City Crime - Crime Maps, Reports and Statistics (http://okccrime.com)

JWil
10-25-2007, 01:06 PM
Pics?

MrZ
10-25-2007, 01:58 PM
Even without a live performance (the trumpet playing doesn't count lol), today was still pretty cool. Glad I decided to go. Did anyone else see the large balloons bouncing down the streets with the wind? Was pretty funny to see people's reactions when they saw them.

Any idea if they are performing after the Halloween Parade? The site says this:
Grand Marshal Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips will appear at the end of the parade, so come early to get a good spot.
Not sure what they mean by appear after the parade.
I have skipped Opening Night the last few years, but if they are playing this year I will definitely be there.

metro
10-25-2007, 02:32 PM
Yeah it was a pretty good event although the turnout was disappointing, but of course being the chamber, they do it mid-morning when most people have to work or can't get downtown. Mostly chamber cronies and press (alot of press including international press). There were a few die-hard fans and such and business people including myself. I took plenty of pictures and even got a pic with Wayne. I'll try to post them tomorrow (sorry, Taste of Western is tonight!).

OKCCrime
10-25-2007, 04:40 PM
What was up with the huge snow globe anyway? I didn't get it. Furthermore, I had a hard time seeing it from the back. Metro, you get any pictures of it? I certainly hope the city didn't pay too much for that thing!

OKCCrime

----
Oklahoma City Crime - Crime Maps, Reports and Statistics (http://okccrime.com)

metro
10-25-2007, 07:54 PM
Yes, I got plenty of pics of everything, probably too much if anything! Thats the good thing about digital, you can shoot as much as you want and keep the good pics without wasting "film". I just got back from Taste of Western so I'll post them here soon.

metro
10-25-2007, 08:45 PM
Okay, I posted a dozen or so pics from the dedication today in my gallery. I didn't post the pic of me and Wayne though. I still have tons of pics I didn't post but posted some of the better ones.

http://www.okctalk.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=204

Doug Loudenback
10-26-2007, 06:32 AM
Neat pics, Metro!

I couldn't make it ... hope to see the parade on Saturday.

If all of the news of late about the Flaming Lips reveals a gap in knowledge about them (as was true for me), you might enjoy visiting their website, The Flaming Lips (http://www.flaminglips.com/main.php) ... there, click the "Audio" tab at the top and listen to lots of their tunes!

I'm listening to "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" right now ... very cool!

Very nice article in today's Oklahoman, NewsOK: Bricktown Alley dedicated to the Flaming Lips (http://newsok.com/article/3156695/1193378243) . Toward the end of the article, Wayne Coyne said,


And I say we're on the way to becoming, I think, the ... coolest city in America."

kmf563
10-26-2007, 08:33 AM
Great pics metro! thanks for sharing those.

jbrown84
10-26-2007, 09:00 AM
It's so funny to see Mick Cornett speaking from a podium with Aliens standing by next to him. It's just a bizarre sight.

BDP
10-26-2007, 09:19 AM
Yeah it was a pretty good event although the turnout was disappointing, but of course being the chamber, they do it mid-morning when most people have to work or can't get downtown.

Yes, it was very poorly planned. I'm thinking in any other city this would have been a huge and very fun event. I just don't think many people here realize how important the Flaming Lips are world wide. If it was Carrie Underwood, it would have been on Friday night, televised live on every local station, and it would have been packed. Not that such attention wouldn't have been warranted, it just seems like the Lips can't get any traction in their own hometown. I mean, we even had some people fighting against naming an alley after them. Hopefully, this will help some people realize 1) how important their unique contribution to popular music has been, 2) how highly regarded their music is world wide, and 3) what a consistent and positive ambassador Wayne Coyne has been for the city of Oklahoma City.


Mostly chamber cronies and press (alot of press including international press).

And I can just see our chamber looking at all the press and saying to themselves "really? I had no idea..." :)

kmf563
10-26-2007, 09:31 AM
yes. yes. i believe the people at work called it a "circus without cause" when i asked if could take a long lunch to attend yesterday. They went on to say nobody even knows who the Flaming Lips are and they don't deserve a street. So of course I replied with "then it's a good thing we gave them an ALLEY"and pointed out to them how amazing it is to win 6 grammys when nobody knows who you are. :beaten_fi

idiots.

I think several people are getting wake up calls this week and realizing who the Lips are and what they have accomplished....and oh yeah, they are from Oklahoma...right??? LOL.

BDP
10-26-2007, 09:58 AM
nobody even knows who the Flaming Lips are

That's laughable and kind of sad, really.

I know they're not for everyone, but to say that no one knows who they are is really an admission that you have no clue what you're talking about. I don't "get" today's country music and I couldn't sing you one line of a Carrie Underwood or Toby Keith song, but I am aware that they are loved by many world wide, win awards, and are considered to be at the top of their genre. The only reason I know this is because they are from Oklahoma. It would be a struggle for me to name 5 other country acts in the top 20 today. So, it's so weird that others can't admit or accept the Flaming Lips importance in their field and as ambassadors for Oklahoma City.

I'm not saying anyone should like them because they're from Oklahoma, but it's just weird that people here would be so ignorant about them. But, I guess it's great for the band. They can live here and not have to worried about getting mobbed when they go to the grocery store, like they would in say, Japan.

metro
10-26-2007, 10:56 AM
I kept hearing Jim Couch (city manager who stood next to me) and Roy Williams (President of Greater OKC Chamber of Commerce) say how this was helping their "hipness factor" (while they're in their $2000 suits). I wanted to say yeah you should have done this 10 years ago man. Even worse, Mayor Mick and Roy on stage kept crowding Wayne out and standing in front of him, half the time you couldn't see him because their ego's were in the way of the cameras.

ksearls
10-26-2007, 11:25 AM
BDP, you have no idea what you are talking about.

I was in on all of the planning with the Chamber and am a Lips fan. I was in the pit at the Zoo show along with about half of the marketing/pr staff from the Chamber. We were at their Christmas party. We are marching in the parade. Our kids go to the same school. I saw their shows in the 80's. We know how cool they are.

The Chamber worked directly with Scott Booker, the Lips manager and his staff to plan and produce the event. The entire event was designed to be an ironic and surreal ribbon cutting experience and to promote the Alley and Ghouls Gone Wild. It was not designed just for fans but for the PR value to the City and the Lips. It was designed to honor the people that helped push the Alley naming through (when it was not always popular) and the FLips.

The Chamber worked to get INTERNATIONAL press on the event. It was in the London paper. They worked with KWTV to feed video to MTV News. They worked with Rolling Stone to supply photos and coverage of the event. They have hired an entire crew to cover the parade for MTV and possibly Letterman.


And I can just see our chamber looking at all the press and saying to themselves "really? I had no idea..."

We know exactly what we have and are working with the Lips to make this the "Coolest F@*KING city in America"

ksearls
10-26-2007, 11:30 AM
Metro,

$2000 suits are cool too. Were you a fan 10 years ago? There was no Alley ten years ago, those guys built it for you and everyone else in this City.

Stop the hating and just enjoy the moment. It was a great event.

kmf563
10-26-2007, 12:06 PM
I heart Wayne Coyne too.

I love that this is causing controversy...isn't that what the flips have always done anyway?? They stirred up the scene, they messed with the industy, they have always kind of done it their own f-ing way. Why should it change now? The only difference is it's being done in front of the mainstream eye instead of underground as it has been for many many years. They know who has been there for them and who has shared the memories over the years. That's what matters. It's nice to have an alley and a dedication...but they don't need it. And that's what makes them cool really.

I think it's great that the council, the media, and whoever is doing something, anything to recognize local artists. I love the direction oklahoma city is going and hopefully my job here will be a lot easier in the future.

metro
10-26-2007, 01:27 PM
kim, yes I actually was a fan back then although I was just a teenager. In fact, Wayne's now late mother used to due my taxes. I'm not hating, I'm just saying they (Roy and others) kept talking about their ego's and how hip it was making them look and such. Literally thats what they said several times off record. And you have to admit but he and Mick were crowding out Wayne during the first part of the ceremony. He was trying to look around their heads, instead of them just scooting over a few inches. Don't get me wrong, I know the fight they had to get the alley renamed and I greatly appreciate all the hard work that went into everything.

I realize that this was more for PR exposure and not as much for the fans, but look at it from my side as well as BDP's and others. If they did design this more for the fans and better PR(say on a Saturday afternoon when more people could attend), think how much better that would have looked for OKC streaming on MTV and printed in Rolling Stone magazine with thousands there instead of about 200 mostly in suits. Now that's PR!

BDP
10-26-2007, 03:14 PM
BDP, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Maybe, but it sound more like you don't know what I was talking about. In the end it's nice to see that they are getting some recognition here and that's all that really matters. They deserve it.


It was not designed just for fans but for the PR value to the City and the Lips.

Exactly. That actually is what I meant by being poorly planned. Don't get me wrong. The reality is that the fact that it was planned at all is nice and, really when I think about it, pretty surprising. But, I've never thought of what the Lips do as PR stunts, but more about brining entertainment to their fans. No band today works harder with a DIY work ethic than the flaming lips. Planning this as a PR event without consideration to the fans kind of comes off as the City taking advantage of the Flaming Lips's elevated profile of the last 5 years or so.

At the end of the day, that's kind of the nature of these things. Communities often honor their successful citizens, even if they kind of ignored them when they were initially forging that success. Hey, we even do this with our celebrated country talent. We kind of say "go get famous, and when you do, then we'll talk about some support..."

In the end, thanks for all of your work. Hopefully, it will help elevate OKC's music profile and maybe invigorate some support amongst its citizens. As for the fans, there's always the shows and even the Halloween parade to partake in a truly interactive event more in line with the legacy of the Flaming Lips. The alley has been named, it has been dedicated, it drew international exposure, and, hopefully, less people in OKC will say "no one even knows who they are".

If you can't see it, there is a banner in the chamber office that reads "Mission Accomplished". :)

ksearls
10-26-2007, 04:30 PM
The event was accessible to everyone. It was at lunch and lasted under an hour. There was no one "taken advantage of". Like it or not, there is marketing and pr involved of every business including the music business.

Many fans were there and outnumbered the "suits" Wayne spent over 2 hours talking to them, siging autographs and talking picutres with them individually after the event was over.

If mission accomplished means that the Flaming Lips are happy, many fans that got one-on-one time with Wayne are happy and OKC is featured on the world stage, than yes, they deserve to say mission accomplished on this event.

We all know that there is still lots of work to do, and damn that was fun!

kmf563
11-27-2007, 08:00 AM
Be sure to pick up the current issue of Rolling Stone and Spin Magazine - both feature the alley dedication along with DFEST.