Bands: Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Mars Volta

It’s not too often these days that I get excited about seeing a band in concert, but I was more than excited to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers when they made it to my neck of the woods. Slated in the opening spot was The Mars Volta, whom I have had the displeasure of seeing in the past. Not to knock The Mars Volta as musicians but their style of music is not suited for a live setting unless you have a time machine that could take you back to the 1970’s. They come off as pretentious and have a hard time keeping the audiences attention during their overly long songs, each of which usually clock in over seven minutes. It seems to me that every tour that The Mars Volta get put on is due to their label trying to get the band more exposure, not the opening band actually wanting them their. I cannot say either way if this is the case for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but it is just an observation that I have made after seeing them twice.

As for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, they put on a show that ranks up there with all the great bands that I have ever seen (Green Day, U2…). Musically the band put on a tight performance that you would expect from such extraordinary musicians that have been playing together for this long. John Frusciante and Flea had no trouble stealing the show at any moment with their solos while drummer Chad Smith joined in occasionally to create some spectacular instrumental moments. Overshadowed by this at times was lead singer Anthony Kiedis. This didn’t seem to bother Anthony, but instead seemed to motivate him to elevate the level of his performance to the point where the band became one cohesive unit.

As you would assume the band had dug deep into its catalogue of music to create a performance that would satisfy fans new and old. With that said, the bands set was heavier on songs from their most recent album, Stadium Arcadium. This is not a shocking fact because this is how the music business works, release an album then promote it. This did not take anything away from the performance because everything the Peppers played from Stadium Arcadium sounded rich and full as it was performed the only way that the Peppers could do. The only surprising event of the evening was the fact that the Peppers did not play "Under The Bridge", their most famous song. Maybe this is something that I should have seen coming because the band has been play that song over and over for more than a decade now. Also it shows how great the Peppers are when they can put on one of the best concerts around without playing their most recognizable song. So if you get the chance to go see the Red Hot Chili Peppers on this tour, do so, you will not be disappointed, unless it’s with the opening band.

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