The capacity crowd at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater was fully on board for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ show from the moment Chad Smith showed up onstage dressed all in blue; John Frusciante arrived, via time warp, in a 1970s get up complete with brown slacks, gray shirt, vest, and long, flowing rock star hair; and Flea appeared in a multi-coloured body suit (“I feel like a piece of candy!”). As the three began to jam, the audience, already barely able to contain its excitement at the prospect of seeing the Chilis pre-world tour, let out a frenzied howl at the sight of Anthony Kiedis dressed all in black.
From the funky opening strains of the first song ‘Can’t Stop’ (during which the entire amphitheater provided help with the vocals), to the slowed down quasi-punk jam at the end of their final song, mega hit ‘Give It Away’, all of the guys were clearly amped up and prepared to give their all. Kiedis’ vocals were solid from start to finish, and he ably handled the complex harmonies of songs like ‘Charlie’ from Stadium Arcadium. Smith’s drumming was muscular and steady. Flea, ever the hyperkinetic madman, wowed the audience with both his musical gifts and his inexhaustible charisma. But the MVP award went to Frusciante. He played some of the funkiest riffs known to man, rocked a serious falsetto during his solo version of the Bee Gees’ ‘How Deep Is Your Love?’, and soloed time and again as if his life depended on it.