Post-punk and psychedelic band The Flaming Lips won the Guinness World Record for most concerts performed in multiple cities within 24 hours Thursday.
The Oklahoma band stopped by eight different cities from Memphis to New Orleans by bus, breaking Jay-Z’s previous record of seven shows.
“When I was 16, this was the dream,” Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne stated in a press conference reported by Rolling Stone. “The great inclusive adventure of touring. Honestly, I don’t think a lot of artists now would look very good doing this.”
MTV’s third annual O Music Awards streamed the band’s road trip exclusively online. Users were able to interact and switch from multiple cameras between the bus, the venues, and the control room to watch the band’s one-day journey.
New Orleans was the final stop where awards were given to Selena Gomez, Tokio Hotel, Adam Lambert, and 30 Seconds to Mars. Coyne described the journey as “an absurd joy.”
“Achieving this record-breaking musical journey has been exhausting and exhilarating at the same time,” Van Toffler, president of the Music and Logo Group, told The Hollywood Reporter. “Wayne, the Lips, all the musicians and fans that greeted us along the Delta and a sweaty tired crew made for some choice moments on this trek. Now it’s time for all of us to take a long hot shower.”
The Flaming Lips’ concerts are known for their piles of confetti, laser lights, costumed fans dancing on stage, bizarre visuals played overhead, and Coyne surfing the crowd in a giant inflatable-ball.
The band recently released The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, a collaborative album that features Kesha and Coldplay’s Chris Martin. A limited edition vinyl set included blood samples from each of the artists pressed into each record.
