- Music
- 21 Sep 17
After illness forced the Red Hot Chili Peppers to reschedule their two sold-out shows in Dublin’s 3Arena from December 2016 to September 2017, the mood ahead of Wednesday's performance was one of rapt exhilaration.
Having fostered an intimate relationship with their Irish audience, the idea of a nine-month postponement seemed unbearable for any Red Hot Chili Peppers fan on these shores. So, as they took to the stage to the tune of a solo bassoon, the feeling of euphoric relief let itself be known before even the first note was struck.
Starting with a short introductory jam, almost as a warm up, once Anthony Keidis finally stomped up to the mic, while his bandmates laced into the frantic opening chords of ‘All Around the World’, the room exploded from all angles.
Leaning heavily on their post 2000’s repertoire initially, with the likes of ‘The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie’ and ‘Snow (Hey Oh)’ prompting many to raise their lighters within the first twenty minutes, the only real lag came halfway through a cover of Iggy and the Stooges’ ‘Search and Destroy’. Wild at first, with Keidis certainly pulling off Iggy Pop’s spasmodic dancing, the song seemed to stumble as it failed to capture the original's violent climax. Still, what momentum they lost was quickly salvaged as they flew into ‘Tell Me Baby’, followed by a penetrating rendition of ‘Suck My Kiss’.