It's been 20 years since The Flaming Lips released the one-of-a-kind aural hallucination that is The Soft Bulletin. The rest of us are still catching up.

There are few acts as distinctive and idiosyncratic as The Flaming Lips, which is less of a rock band and more a perpetual motion machine flipping the finger to our expectations. But even in a 36-year career of constant self-reinvention, The Soft Bulletin stands out as a high point in musical innovation. Its groundbreaking use of sonic manipulation combined with lush orchestration and complex harmonies left critics comparing it to The Beach Boys pioneering Pet Sounds, but there's little else that so successfully manages to combine radical experimentation with sheer earworm catchiness.

Led by charismatic frontman Wayne Coyne, this 20th anniversary concert will see The Soft Bulletin performed live, and given the band's penchant for performances as unexpected as their songs, we're ready for anything.

PHOTO | George Salisbury