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.

"I love Stephen Colbert more than anything else in the world," said Tom Dinatale, a 22-year-old graduate student who came from Philadelphia exclusively for this event. "I'll say that even with you here," he told his fellow concertgoer, New York resident Hannah Abrams.

When asked if they were dating, Abrams threateningly replied: "Not for long."

Dinatale and Abrams were part of the 1,500-person crowd who managed to reserve or win tickets online for the free festival. The audience was rewarded for their hours-long wait in hot August weather with free booze, snacks and the Colbert-created Americone Dream Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Decked out in an overwhelmingly patriotic full-body stars-and-stripes uniform, 21-year-old Zeb Whitt of Asheville, North Carolina, said he took his first flight ever exclusively for the festival, all in the hopes of accomplishing his summer goal of meeting Stephen Colbert. "He's kind of my idol," Whitt said.

Stephen Colbert in a bubble. Photograph: Jason Decrow/AP/Invision

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.

Buzz band of the summer, fun. opened the evening's performances and were followed by the only ursine creature ever allowed in the bear-hating Colbert's vicinity, indie-band Grizzly Bear.

During the Brooklyn-based group's performance, the difficulties of creating a TV-ready concert became clear as the band was forced to replay their set after the day's earlier rainstorm damaged the sound system.

As it got closer to midnight, these errors notably affected the crowd and some people left after seeing their favorite performers. But during these frustrating delays, Colbert's appearance still elicited enthusiastic chants of his name in the late hours of the night as he told jokes with Santigold and aired segments recorded earlier in the day for next week's shows.

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."

The Flaming Lips were clearly the second biggest draw for the crowd with fans holding-up signs and shiny space blankets that referenced the bands famous psychedelic performances. But Coyne was fully aware of what he was there for.

"We like Stephen Colbert, he's awesome, his is the best show," Coyne said. "It's his show and then you're kind of part of it."

The musical performances and segments with the bands recorded on-board the Intrepid will air on The Colbert Report next week.