The Flaming Lips Announce 'The Teardrop Throbs' and Two-Night Album Shows for 2027

By Cole Ashby,

The Teardrop Throbs album artwork: a figure raising a torch of rainbow light inside a glowing blue cave, with the band name and title below

Tickets for The Flaming Lips' 2027 two-night album shows go on sale to the public Friday, October 30 at 10 AM local time. The run backs The Teardrop Throbs, which Third Man Records releases Friday, January 22, 2027. Each city gets two nights, and the two nights are built differently.

The Flaming Lips tour 2027 dates

Five cities, two nights each. Third Man says "Additional dates will be announced."

January 22 and 23, 2027: Nashville, Brooklyn Bowl

January 26 and 27: New York, Irving Plaza

February 23 and 24: Los Angeles, The Bellwether

February 27 and 28: Chicago, Metro

April 2 and 3: London, O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire

The run opens on release day in Nashville. Third Man shortens the London venue to "O2 Shepherds Bush," and the Live Nation listing uses the full name, O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire.

Flaming Lips presale and on-sale times

The general on-sale is the one fixed time across the run: Friday, October 30 at 10 AM local. Third Man says "Tickets for all shows go on sale this Friday, October 30," and sends fans to flaminglips.com/tour for ticket information.

Presales depend on the city. The Live Nation event listings for Nashville, New York and Los Angeles show an artist presale that opened Wednesday, October 28 at 10 AM local, followed by a Live Nation or venue presale Thursday, October 29 at 10 AM local. The Irving Plaza two-day ticket page shows that Thursday presale at 10 AM EDT. Metro's Chicago page lists only "ON SALE 10/30," and the London listing shows no presale window. If you're after a Chicago or London ticket, plan on Friday.

Two nights, two different shows

This is the part of the announcement that makes the trip worth it. According to JamBase, on the first night the band will play The Teardrop Throbs "in its entirety" and then come back for a second set billed as "Songs From The 20th Century." On the second night, they'll play the new album "in a new way" and give the second set to "Songs From The 21st Century."

My take: that's the smart way to sell a new record live. Night one asks you to sit with the album as sequenced. Night two gives the same songs a second shot and pulls from a different half of the catalog. Nobody's said what "in a new way" means yet, so I won't guess.

The Teardrop Throbs release date and formats

The Teardrop Throbs is out Friday, January 22, 2027. Third Man calls it the band's "17th official studio album and first all-new LP in more than six years," and it's their debut for the label. It's coming out digitally, on CD, and on vinyl in black and a limited 'Teardrop Blue' edition. Pre-orders are open.

Third Man's studio has turned up in our pages too: our Jack White review covers No Name, which he recorded at Third Man Studio.

Third Man credits production to The Flaming Lips, Taylor Johnson, Dave Fridmann and Scott Booker, with additional production by Jon Fridmann and Mike Fridmann.

God Will Control The Werewolves

The lead single, "God Will Control The Werewolves," is out now and sits at track 2. It runs 4:21 on Apple Music. In his notes on Third Man's page, Wayne Coyne says the song started as a story about his two sons playing hide and seek at the park. He describes how he heard it as "kind of Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon BUT Syd Barrett is still in the band."

The Flaming Lips: God Will Control The Werewolves

That's his reference, not mine. I'd rather hear the full album before I hang a comparison on it.

The Teardrop Throbs tracklist

Thirteen songs, in the order and spelling Apple Music prints them, with a ℗ line of "℗ 2027 Third Man Records."

  1. Throb
  2. God Will Control The Werewolves
  3. Titan
  4. Every Teardrop Cried
  5. Hooray
  6. Instructions on How to Draw an Eyeball or How to Deal with a Loved One Who is Addicted to Drugs
  7. You See You In Me
  8. You’ve Got Brain Damage
  9. At The End Of The Day
  10. The Trees Are Getting Their Leaves / Ceasefire In The City Of The Singing Flame
  11. Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell Part 2
  12. A Sunset Far Away
  13. Now I Understand

The band also posted a trailer for the album on its own YouTube channel.

The Flaming Lips Presents 'The Teardrop Throbs'

What to watch next

Two things. The first is the extra dates Third Man has promised. The second is what "in a new way" turns out to mean once the Nashville shows open the run on release day. Next year's tour calendar is filling up fast, from the 2hollis 'Pirouette' run to the rest of our rock coverage.

If you only want one thing from this announcement, set a reminder for Friday at 10 AM local.

Start with: 'God Will Control The Werewolves'.

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