The Flaming Lips Come to Wallingford, 6/15; Tickets on Sale 5/22

Flaming Lips has been pushing the envelope with their lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements since their inception in 1983. To put it tamely, the group's live shows are a spectacle. A typical performance may include balloons, confetti, puppets, giant hands and lead guitarist Wayne Coyne surfing the crowd in a man-sized plastic bubble. Performing with Flaming Lips in Wallingford will be special guest Spiritualized.

The concert will take place at the Toyota Presents Oakdale Theatre, 95 South Turnpike Road, Wallingford, CT, presented by The Bushnell in conjunction with Premier Concerts and Manic Productions. Flaming Lips will play on Monday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m.; tickets for the concert are $37 and $47 including service charges and will go on sale beginning Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 10 a.m. online at ticketmaster.com or by phone at 800-745-3000. Oakdale Theatre parking fees are on top of ticket prices.

Of the innumerable one-hit wonders littering the cultural landscape, few, if any, are so brave, so frequently brilliant, and so deliciously weird as the Flaming Lips. To even classify the Lips as merely a one-hit wonder is to do the group a grave injustice; their moment of Top 40 success was simply another pit-stop on one of the more surreal and haphazard career trajectories in pop music. An acid-bubblegum band with as much affinity for sweet melodies as blistering noise assaults, their off-kilter sound, uncommon emotional depth, and bizarre history firmly established them as one of the true originals of the post-punk era.

Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983, when founder and guitarist Wayne Coyne allegedly stole a collection of musical instruments from an area church hall and enlisted his vocalist-brother Mark and bassist Michael Ivins to start a band. Giving themselves the nonsensical name the Flaming Lips, the band made its live debut at a local transvestite club. After progressing through an endless string of drummers, they recruited percussionist Richard English and recorded their self-titled debut, issued on green vinyl on their own Lovely Sorts of Death label in 1985. This April, they released their 13th studio album,The Terror, a nine-track recording that strives to create one sustained (and unsettling) mood. For more information, visit www.flaminglips.com.

Celebrating 80 years, The Bushnell is Connecticut's premier performing arts center, hosting more than 350 events yearly, including major Broadway tours, symphony orchestras, family presentations, local arts and community events. The Bushnell is home to two theaters- the historic 2,800-seat Mortensen Hall, and the 907-seat Belding Theater, a state-of-the-art performance hall that opened in 2001. The Bushnell's nationally recognized, award-winning, arts-in-education program, PARTNERS (Partners in Arts and Education Revitalizing Schools), now in its 19th year, continues to provide quality arts-in-education programs for schools and communities across Greater Hartford. The Bushnell opened in January 1930 and is a not-for-profit organization that is proud to serve Connecticut and its citizens. For more information, call The Bushnell at (860) 987-6000, The Bushnell Box Office at (860) 987-5900 or visit our website at www.bushnell.org.

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