Flaming Lips @ Jodrell Bank

It's fitting that a band renowned for their cosmic and pyschedelically  inspired tunes should end up playing one of the Jodrell Bank live events. With a stage sitting snugly beneath the huge telescope, it's an ingenius combination of science and song.

Before The Flaming Lips emerge, we're educated in the ways of the stars, thanks to a quick session on stage with Prof Tim O'Brien, who works here. He instructs the control tower to move the huge telecope into place, and slowly the dish swings round to face the crowd.

Frontman Wayne Coyne announces that he'll be entering his giant zorb ball all the better to roll around on the heads of the crowd, and after doing just that like some rock'n'roll hamster, he emerges and the band's melodic and downright spacey rock blasts out over the Cheshire countryside.

They charge through a set comprising of classics "She Don't Use Jelly", "Race For The Prize" and "Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" as dancers in furry animal costumes jig away at each side and multi-coloured balloons float out from the stage.

It's part musical happening gig, part circus and possibly the best party on the planet. The more proggy pyschedelic stuff from 2009's "Embryonic" also fits the surrounds and,  as lasers fill the skies for "See The Leaves". Wayne announces there's no better place to be on Earth right now.

These Oklahoma rockers make every gig feel more like a profound event, with so much effort put into the stage show, in addition to the music. While the band takes a breather before returning for an encore, we're treated to a huge projection film about Jodrell Bank AND space, beamed on to the giant telescope dish.  Coming back for the majestic "Do You Realise", it's a fitting end to a gig that's seen The Flaming Lips in perhaps their most appropriate venue ever.

Paula Gregory