Even after 20 years, the Red Hot Chili Peppers can still rock your mama's socks off.
But first the crowd had to deal with the concert's venue, Cricket Pavilion, which charged each car $10 to park, in addition to the $50 it had already sucked out of the fans for tickets. Next, security at the entrance was unusually tight (read: the guards should have bought people dinner after touching them like that.)
The show opened with old-school punker Mike Watt. He and two cronies pounded away on bass, drum and organ while most of the crowd was still buying beer. Watt has been around since 1980, but it sure didn't sound like it. The songs seemed to go on forever; they were addled with false endings and, thus, false hopes. The crowd was anxious for a break in the music so it could boo the trio. The band was so unimpressive that it's almost not worth discussing, so let's talk about the Lips.
The Flaming Lips, a three-man band led by Wayne Coyne, played with quality style and spectacle as usual. The band was joined by an army of costumed dogs, bears and Santa Claus, who danced and tossed giant balloons into the crowd. The Lips did not play their 1993 hit, "She Don't Use Jelly," but concluded with a current favorite, "Do You Realize?" They also didn't play for as long as they should have, but the crowd didn't really appreciate the band's alternative spin and eccentric theatrics.
Chili Pepper fans pay to rock out in the funkiest way possible, and that isn't what the Flaming Lips are really about. The Lips came to Gammage Auditorium in 2002 with Beck, where they seemed to be more at home. The balloons, confetti and video screen really work better indoors, and in the open air of Cricket Pavilion, the effect literally was lost to the wind.
After two hours of waiting, the Chili Peppers finally emerged on stage. The crowd immediately came to life as it heard the familiar opening to "By the Way," the title track of the band's 2002 album. The Peppers really know how to electrify a crowd, holding nothing back from their high-energy stage presence. They kept the crowd on its feet by combining newer hits from By the Way and Californication with some older favorites like "Under the Bridge" and "Soul to Squeeze." They also threw in a few rarely heard but thoroughly funky tunes from the past, such as "If You Have to Ask" and the sardonically irreverent "Sir Psycho Sexy."
There were a few unusual moments in Thursday's performance. During the Peppers' hit "Give it Away," an excited fan ran on stage to dance alongside lead singer Anthony Kiedis. He easily evaded the pursuit of a pipsqueak security guard and, after a few comical moments, finally was taken down by a properly sized guard. The whole exchange struck Kiedis' funny bone, and he lost his place in the song but was able to recover. Later in the evening, bass player extraordinaire Flea surprised the crowd with an impressive, jazzy trumpet solo. He originally played the trumpet in high school.
The blend of classic and contemporary appeal was exemplified by a family sitting nearby. Two middle-aged parents brought their 13-year-old son from Nogales, Ariz., a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Phoenix. The mother said she and her husband bring him to several concerts. During "Under the Bridge," the kid borrowed his mom's lighter to join the crowd until it got too hot for him to hold. A lifelong rock fan was born.
The Chili Peppers always can be counted on for a dynamic blend of funk, punk, jazz and rock. From Flea's awe-inspiring bass slapping to John Frusciante stepping down into the crowd to rip out a guitar solo, this is an experienced band that loves the fans and knows how to put on a show.
Reach the reporters at lindsay.butler@asu.edu and antonio.carrillo@asu.edu.
