Crowd Surfing at Colbchella with Colbert.

(Photo by Jason DeCrow | Invision / AP)

All that stood between Stephen Colbert and his fans Friday night was a few millimeters of plastic as he rolled across the audience inside a giant plastic space bubble, trusting his diehard fans to keep him from cascading off the USS Intrepid into New York’s Hudson river.

It was The Colbert Report host’s final performance at Pepsi Presents StePhest Colbchella ’012: Rocktaugustfest, a musical festival Colbert presented as a fight against the “half-naked patchouli-soaked white-guy-dreadlock festivals” like Coachella and Bonnaroo that occur each summer.

On board the retired aircraft carrier on a stage lit by bright bulbs spelling “COLBERT,” the comedian managed to cajole more feelings of hippie-love and camaraderie than his conservative television alter-ego would normally hope for – except that these feelings were directed entirely at the empire that is Stephen Colbert.

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When the satirical ringmaster finally appeared on stage – dressed in an old-timey admirals’ uniform, replete with feathered captain’s hat, sword and navy neckerchief – audience members were quick to proclaim their love for the comedian, to which the pundit host replied: “I love me too.” At the audience’s request, Colbert then lead a sing-a-long of the National Anthem and the music festival officially began.

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When Colbert took the stage to welcome the night’s final performance he said he needed one thing from the audience as he got ready for the space bubble. “We’ll do anything,” the audience exclaimed, “Lead us Stephen!”

The Flaming Lips frontman, Wayne Coyne, who joined Colbert in the audience in a separate space bubble (a trademark part of a Flaming Lips performance) echoed the audience’s sentiments.

Coyne told the Guardian: “We are the mercy of the Stephen Colbert show, which we want to be, we love him, we’ll do whatever they say and whatever they want to do.”

Full Article: The Gaurdian.