In the waning moments of 2025, while in the depths of the song The Process, The Flaming Lips arrive yet again at the fleeting doorway to nirvana; the moment that keeps all of us coming back time and time again.
Within each Lips performance, there is a transcendent moment when the band and audience slip into an otherworldly synchronicity. Though elusive and difficult to define, this shared experience has been a vital and enduring element of The Lips’ live shows for decades.
Here, time itself stops. There is nothing worth anyone’s thoughts beyond the walls of the Anthem Theater on this chilly New Year’s Eve. In this moment and place, the music pours over the soul like summer rain on skin, releasing a deep, internal warmth and shimmering waves of light that blend into a single, dissolving sensation.
The band took the stage in peace and delivered fire. Whether it was the location, just a short distance from the wallowing war pigs of Washington D.C., or motivation from the recent online drama and criticism following the departure of longtime member Steven Drozd, here the band seemed to take the stage with superb confidence, ready to bring the cosmic heat to remind everyone of why this band and its music is so important to the world right now.
From the start, the latest edition of The Flaming Lips New Year’s Eve Freakout, their first since 2022, began with Sleeping on The Roof, the carefully fingered notes by Derek on piano cracked the silence that drew everyone in. Above the audience, hundreds of colorful balloons, sitting in darkness were poised in preparation for the midnight celebration.
Following Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots parts one and two, the power only increased with Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung, The Spark That Bled, Five Stop Mother Superior Rain and Christmas At The Zoo.
The band was under a bit of a deadline to complete a majority of the setlist before the new year countdown. Wayne said in past new year celebrations, “about 23 now”, he remembered he wanted to make sure the band was prepared and not too late to start the countdown.
The last Flaming Lips song of 2025 was The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song before the band took a quick break.
While the band walked off stage, someone from the audience yelled “we’re all going to get laid”. However, The Observer was not able to confirm if any of this happened as of press time.
After the stage was set and prepared, the band returned to perform the Scottish traditional holiday tune Auld Lang Syne before the start of a one-minute countdown at midnight.
Then, as the old year surrendered to the new, the band gently entered into The Process, a rare and relatively old piece of music. The song, although lyric-less, is poignant in its power to lead the listener into meaningful reflection. Celebrating the new year, love began to spread as quickly as the soft balloons bouncing through and over the audience.
The notes of The Process delivered perfectly as a love-filled pandemonium broke out from the balcony to the floor. Here, fans were not dreaming, yet simply in the throws of a short, but delightful vacation from their cordial selves. Within peace and punk rock, they were thrust amongst the happiest of the living, within a small venue, within a large city, that seems to need love and unity now more than ever.
By the end, a Lips audience never wants it to end. The crowd left floored and the Anthem had been transformed into something resembling a Seussian tale, interwoven melted faces, smiles, hugs and hi-fives that can only be described as one beautiful sea of humanity, that this band leaves in its wake at every stop.
Outside the chill air from the Potomac River snaps the wandering freaks back into reality as they stroll, the happiest of happy, into the dark Virginia night reborn from the nirvana of another Lips show.
So what now?
A new year begins. And, in the months to come the band will start another trip around the world to fans who will be waiting.
If leaving 2025 behind meant thumbing over a page to a new chapter, a new path of the band, then 2026 could be time when The Flaming Lips reintroduces to the world who they are. This new iteration of the band does not need to befriend or persuade its haters to continue their quest. With confirmation of a new album on the horizon, the path lies ahead of Wayne, Derek, Matt, Tommy, and AJ is there and theirs alone.
In 2025 fans were reminded that change can come unexpectedly and leave a period of pain and uncertainty. One day it will all be over, but right now “all we have is now.” The blessed memories of each time this band has taken the stage serve to remind the world that every show, is a gift.
December 31: NYE Freak Out:
The Anthem Theater: Washington D.C. December 31, 2025 – January 1, 2026
Sleeping on the Roof
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 2
Turn It On
Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung
The Spark That Bled
Five Stop Mother Superior Rain
The Golden Path
Vein of Stars
She Don’t Use Jelly
Christmas At The Zoo
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
BREAK BEFORE MIDNIGHT
Auld Lang Syne (traditional Scottish folk song)
The Process
Do You Realize??
War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
Race For The Prize
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