In the middle of the euphoric madness that I now know first hand goes on at a Flaming Lips show, the band chose to cover the Emerson, Lake & Palmer song "Lucky Man" at Moogfest 2011 last Saturday night. Wayne Coyne spoke of playing this song back in the day and smoking way too much pot at the time but it was offered in honor of Bob Moog and "all those that keep his spirit alive for us." Coyne strummed his road-weary acoustic guitar with a dome over the front and back cut out while swaying to the undulating melody. In another nod to the convergence of science and technology with music, Keith Emerson's iconic solo on an early Moog synthesizer was played on stage by Steven Drozd using an Animoog ipad app. 
This song has a deeply personal place in my life -- Brain Salad Surgery was a favorite album belonging to my oldest brother Ed. I never needed to own many records in the 70s as I could hear them through the walls from his bedroom: The Who, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, The Rolling Stones, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Ed was definitely a man of his times, a friendly free spirit that died of an accidental drug overdose by the end of the decade. While I certainly miss having him in my life as the years continue, it is the music that he shared that pulls at my heartstrings the most. This song played live so lovingly brought tears streaming down my face, a wonderful tribute to both Bob Moog and my brother.For my full Moogfest 2011 coverage, visit Popmatters here.