Referring to a Flaming Lips live performance as simply a “concert” or “show” would be inaccurate.

Rather, “spectacle” is a term much more befitting of a live outing from The Flaming Lips.

The Oklahoma City-based quartet proved as much on Monday night at Lonestar Pavilion at Sunset Station, playing a sold-out show before a raucous San Antonio crowd. In addition to the trippy brand of music that has kept The Flaming Lips relevant for the past two decades, Monday night’s show featured many of the supplementary staples that separate the band’s live show from others.

On this particular night, that included king-sized yellow balloons, confetti showers and dancing Santa Clauses on the side of the stage. These Santas, however, were not old, bearded and portly, but instead, comprised of fit male and female 20-somethings.

The Flaming Lips, who remain on the fringe of music’s mainstream, and yet, maintain their credibility among indie hipsters, are known for such spectacles. And while frontman Wayne Coyne didn’t sing from inside the confines of his trademark plastic bubble, he did belt out fan favorites like “Waitin’ For A Superman,” “Fight Test” and the fan-participatory “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power),” from the band’s epic new album, At War With the Mystics.

The band’s set was even a bit much for Sunset Station’s fire alarm system, which was set off a few different times by The Flaming Lips’ smoke machine. Of course, it probably didn’t help matters that Camel was on hand sponsoring the event and giving out free cigarettes.

Even so, the band played through the occasional smoke siren and entertained the crowd with classics like “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1” and “Free Radicals.” They even played a clip from their long-ago appearance on “Beverly Hills 90210,” which served as the introduction to their final pre-encore song, “Do You Realize??”

As for the one-song encore, it featured what else, but the band’s biggest hit to date, the 1993 smash “She Don’t Use Jelly.” That song was preceded by Captain America (yes, Captain America) coming out to warm up the crowd for the finale.

As evidenced by dancing Santas, superhero introductions and enough confetti to make Dick Clark jealous, maybe The Flaming Lips’ 15-song, 110-minute performance wasn’t the most orthodox show to ever take place at Sunset Station.

But it very well might have been the most entertaining.

Clint Hale | 210SA