The psychedelic rock band the Flaming Lips took the stage in San Francisco on Sunday, Aug. 20, for the final concert of theStern Grove Festival’s 86th season— complete with inflatable pink robots, lots of confetti and a special proclamation from Mayor London Breed.
Along with opener Alan Palomo, the Flaming Lips rounded out the 10-week free summer concert series, the oldest outdoor musical festival in California. The final show was held the same day as the Big Picnic, a fundraiser benefiting the festival, with the sun beaming down on the capacity crowd of 10,000 concertgoers who lined the wooded hills.
Damage from storms earlier this year — one tree crushed the historic Trocadero Clubhouse — left festival organizersconcernedabout starting on time, but the opening show in June went as planned. This year, the festival had performances from artists like Snarky Puppy, Bob Moses and Patti Smith as well as the S.F. Symphony.
Ahead of the Flaming Lips’ appearance, Breed commemorated the band’s deep ties to the Bay Area and gave lead vocalist Wayne Coyne a proclamation, declaring Sunday as “The Flaming Lips Day.” In 1985, the band held its first concert outside of its native Oklahoma at the I-Beam Club on Haight Street and played a free show in Union Square 10 years later. The band headlined Noise Pop Festival’s 20th anniversary in 2012 and played at Outside Lands in 2014.
“Let me tell you, San Francisco is a special place for music. So many people have gotten their start and grown (extraordinarily) well over the years,” said Breed, who was met with mixed reaction and some boos as she took the stage. “And Flaming Lips is an example of San Francisco’s kind of music.”
Among the many Flaming Lips fans in attendance was Mackenzie Dwight, 38, who estimated she’s seen them in concert upward of 10 times, and returns for Coyne’s high-energy performances.
“I’ve never seen anyone else perform the way he does,” said Dwight, who was at the Stern Grove fest for the first time. “I think he has a deep love of it because they’re always on tour. And he doesn’t seem to get tired of it.”
Several concertgoers said they arrived well ahead of the show’s start time. Carl Carpenter, 36, lined up at 8 a.m., four hours before the gates opened. There were already about 30 people in front of him, he said, and he heard some arrived as early as 5 a.m. “I erred on the side of caution,” said Carpenter, who secured a space with his friends at the front of the stage, after sprinting down a hill.
After opener Palomo played, the Flaming Lips took the stage for an approximately 1½-hour set that was colorful and interactive, with trippy graphics on the screen behind the band. Coyne kicked off the set with “Fight Test” from the band’s 2002 album, “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” which they played in its entirety, with four giant inflatable pink robots onstage. Confetti shaped like the pink robots also fluttered throughout the show.
“What an amazing day to be together, oh my gosh,” Coyne told the crowd at the beginning of his set.
While lights were flashing and smoke was billowing from the stage, there was no shortage of confetti-filled balloons, props and even more inflatables. Some balloons floated far up into the hills and the trees. During the crowd-favorite “Do You Realize?,” an inflatable rainbow served as the backdrop as the audience sang along and confetti flickered in the air. Before that song, Coyne preached a message of love, urging everyone to share that with each other.
Toward the end of the performance, Coyne played songs like “She Don’t Use Jelly” and “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song,” singing the latter while wearing a superhero costume — one notable costume change. He closed out the set with “Race for the Prize,” bringing out a giant silver balloon that said “F— Yeah Stern Grove” as more confetti rained down on the crowd.
Bryan Steinbach, 38, who was attending the Stern Grove Festival for the first time with his partner, Leonardo Leal, called the show “fabulous.”
“We’ve only been in San Francisco for two years,” he said, “and this was like, I think, peak California.”
Musician Derek Burle, 33, who plays in the swing-punk band Van Goat, said he appreciated the festival’s investment in live music and making sure it’s accessible.
“Being in the Bay Area music scene for a decade, it’s hard to see clubs close, hard to see things shut down,” Burle said before the show. “But it’s great to see big community events like this that are centered around music.”
Reach Matt Yan:Matt.Yan@sfchronicle.com