A month after announcing their pioneering "Space Bubble"concerts in their native Oklahoma City, the Flaming Lips announced on Tuesday (Dec. 1) that they've been forced to postpone the shows until January due to spiking COVID-19 numbers. "Although the Flaming Lips have every confidence in the multitude of measures we are taking to keep you safe at our upcoming Space Bubble Concerts we have decided to postpone the December shows," wrote singer Wayne Coyne in an Instagram post. "The rising numbers of coronavirus cases in the Oklahoma metro area are alarming and we want to keep everyone safe."
The group originally announced a single Dec. 11 show at The Criterion theater in their hometown in which one to three people could buy space inside a large plastic bubble for what was promoted as a COVID-safe concert for a limited audience. The response was so good that Coyne announced a second show on Dec. 10 at the same venue a few days later, which also sold out, with the promise of more shows in January.