Watch The Flaming Lips hit Brixton with their ‘Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots’ tour

The Flaming Lips kicked off their Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots tour in London over the weekend, playing the seminal record in its entirety.

Returning to Brixton Academy for the first time in eight years, the show saw frontman Wayne Coyne and co bringing the otherworldly epic to life, suitably flanked by pink inflatable robots that reflected the album’s eponymous sinister overlords.

After opening with the glitchy psychedelia of ‘Fight Test’, the group delivered the record in chronological order – with Coyne frequently geeing up the crowd to “keep going” throughout the performance.

It wouldn’t be a Lips show without an onslaught of confetti, lasers and warped visuals too – resulting in the kind of performance that it was impossible to take your eyes off. Even Coyne’s slightly strained vocals couldn’t derail proceedings, as he explained how his young family – who had come down with a bug just days before he left LA for London – had now seemingly passed the germs onto him.

As ever though, the greatest crowd response for a Yoshimi… track was reserved for ‘Do You Realize’, which saw the entirety of Brixton Academy sparking an existential singsong.

After closing the first portion of the show, the band then returned after an interval for a run-through of hits from other albums too – including the surreal absurdity of ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’, the emotional heft of ‘A Spoonful Weighs A Ton’ and even an impassioned cover of ‘True Love Will Find You In The End’ by the late great Daniel Johnston. Fans heading to their other shows on this tour are in for one hell of a treat.