The Flaming Lips kicked off their attempt to break the world record for most concerts in a 24-hour period at Handy Park yesterday afternoon.

The eight show mini-tour was part of the 2012 O Music Awards and is taking the Lips from Memphis through Mississippi to New Orleans.

The cool thing about the Memphis show being the first was that the Lips were able to take their time. At 5:30, lead singer Wayne Coyne came on stage and announced that the band would play fun little pre-show before the official world record attempt started. "At 6:30, there's going to be a guy with a stopwatch and a rule book," Coyne said. "There are a lot of rules. They're not unreasonable, but we don't want to break them."

Mayor Wharton announced the official start of the tour:

The opening band brought an astronaut:

The merch table had the usual t-shirts, but they also had pillow cases. Rebecca (aka @tigerpredschick) models hers:

The show wasn't sold out (amazingly), but it was pretty crowded:

Doug from Biking in Memphis was there (and he had on a sweet t-shirt):

Rubi and her camera, balloons stuck in the trees:

Even though the show was part of a special mini-tour, the band pulled out all of their usual theatrics. They had confetti cannons and balloons: 

And balloons filled with confetti: 

(One of them accidentally popped on the guitarist. He has to be used to that by now, right?)

They also had their signature balloon filled with lead singer Wayne Coyne:

Despit the 90+ degree heat, plenty of people came in costume:

This couple managed to snag a spot standing on a slightly unstable railing at the back of the park:

And finally, here are the Flaming Lips, playing "Do You Realize" in Memphis:

Follow the rest of the tour and the O Music Awards here.