The Flaming Lips have postponed their slated New Year's Eve concerts at Tennessee's Caverns venue.
Rick Kern/GettyImagesUPDATE (12/28): The Flaming Lips have postponed their planned New Year’s Eve shows in an underground concert venue. The band will now perform at the Caverns in Pelham, Tennessee, on Feb. 19 and 20. “The Flaming Lips and The Caverns are heartbroken to deliver this news, and we know you’re no doubt sad to read it, but the health and safety of guests, staff, crew and everyone on stage is of utmost importance,” the venue announced on Instagram. “The new dates for the New Year’s celebration are on President’s Day Weekend…. And yes, it will still be a New Year’s celebration of epic proportions! Wayne and the band feel strongly about ringing in the New Year with you!”
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The Flaming Lips have announced their New Year’s Eve shows for 2021. The Oklahoma City psych-rock band will perform a pair of concerts at the Caverns in Pelham, Tennessee, on December 30th and 31st.
The concerts, which go on sale July 13th at 11 a.m. CT, mark singer Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips’ return to the underground natural amphitheater after first playing the venue on New Year’s Eve 2018. During that performance, the group released balloons filled with confetti to be pierced by the cave’s jagged ceiling.
The announcement of the Flaming Lips’ New Year’s concerts cap an unpredictable year for the Caverns, which moved shows above ground to a quickly built amphitheater during the pandemic. The outdoor venue kicked off with four socially distanced shows by Jason Isbell in 2020 and recently hosted a similar concert by Margo Price.
“The story is how in a pandemic, during a really tough time, you can reimagine what the experience could be,” Todd Mayo, the founder and operator of the Caverns, told Rolling Stone earlier this year during an interview for his inclusion in the Future 25 list. “If there’s human beings on this Earth, they’ll be coming to see music in the Caverns 10,000 years from now,” he said of the subterranean venue’s longevity. “It’s not going anywhere.”
In addition to the Lips’ concerts, the Caverns has shows by Umphrey’s McGee, the Mavericks, and Bruce Hornsby on its 2021 concert calendar. The Flaming Lips announced their 2021-2022 tour in May, which kicks off August 20th, in Ogden, Utah. See tickets online here.
Sharleen Spiteri joined BBC Radio 2’s The Sara Cox Breakfast Show ahead of Texas taking the stage to launch the main live music programme at Radio 2 in the Park in Stirling.
Checking in from rehearsals, the Texas frontwoman spoke about getting ready for the band’s opening performance at City Park. Radio 2’s annual flagship festival takes place there from 11 to 13 September 2026. "I’m match fit because I’ve had a couple of days’ rehearsals," Spiteri said. "We’re kicking the whole weekend off, which we’re very much looking forward to, so everybody’s got to get ready to party."
Before the live acts take over, Friday’s DJ Pre-Party gets the weekend started with Radio 2 favourites Sara Cox, DJ Spoony, Gary Davies, Michelle Visage, and Rylan behind the decks.
Jo Whiley helped set the mood with a special programme from Stirling’s Tolbooth venue. Working with BBC Introducing Scotland, the broadcast put the spotlight on Scotland’s emerging music scene through performances and conversations with Fright Years, Alice Faye, and James Emmanuel.
Fright Years, a four member band from Edinburgh, played "Never Been Wrong" and offered their take on Simple Minds’ "Waterfront." Glasgow singer and songwriter Alice Faye, the BBC Introducing in Scotland 2026 winner, paired "Some Brief Encounter" with a rendition of Lulu’s arrangement of "I Started a Joke." James Emmanuel, who was born in Nigeria and now lives in Edinburgh, sang "Brothers & Sisters" before taking on Chaka Khan’s "I’m Every Woman."
"We’re all about celebrating BBC Introducing and all the music that’s come out of Scotland," Whiley told listeners. "It's about celebrating the local music scene and the incredibly important work that BBC Introducing does to support independent, up-and-coming artists."
Joining the conversation were Stephanie Cheape, presenter of BBC Introducing in Scotland, Tara McLoughlin, venue manager for Stirling Council, and student radio presenters representing the University of Stirling’s Air3 Radio.
Listeners can catch the complete interviews and live performances from the weekend’s programmes on BBC Sounds.
