After a long wait The Red Hot Chili Peppers finally found
their way back to a H-Town Venue. This time the RHCP's made the move to a
stadium show bumping up their attendance significantly from the 19,000 seat Toyota Center to a 40,000 seat MinuteMaid Park.
The fans started arriving early to catch the opening act Thundercat. Bass guitar virtuoso Thundercat
welcomed the early arrivals with his brand of indie jazz-funk which veered from
smooth R&B to the most frantic jazz fusion you could imagine.
After
a
short set change primary support came from rock icons The Strokes, whom
most of
the crowd was clearly thrilled to see. The Stokes took the stage with
front man Julian Casablancas adorned in a button down Texas Flag
shirt. The Grammy Award winning, New York-based rock band enjoys
plenty of
die-hard fans and since it had been 17 years since a swing through
Houston the arriving
fans seemed to appreciate the short but entertaining 8 song setlist.
Now, with the Strokes equipment having been cleared from
the large stage the simplicity of the stage layout for the Peppers now fully revealed
a backdrop of a giant LCD screen and a curved front stage lip of LED screen dropping
down into the photo pit. With a sold out standing pit backed up by a equally
sold out assigned seating arrangement on the field the elevated stage towered
above the fans that had arrived early to be on the barricade.
High stepping Bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith and
guitarist John Frusciante made their entrance for the RHCP's with an
introductory jam. Lead singer Anthony Kiedis hopped out next, still wearing
a walking boot on his left foot and a compression
sleeve on his right knee, as he delivered the hits Can’t Stop and Scar
Tissue.
The band has been switching up it's setlist each night on the “Global
Stadium Tour," and for Houston they pulled out what
I can describe as a good amount of classics from their the 1991 Hit
Album Blood, Sex, Sugar, Magik, which had at that time propelled them into mega
stardom. I still to this day consider Soul To Squeeze a Blood, Sex,
Sugar, Magik song since it was recorded at the same time as BSSM and was only a
B-side release on Give It Way and Under The Bridge until being released as a single in 1993.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group however skipped
some of its most popular songs, including Under the Bridge, Aeroplane, Otherside, and The Zephyr Song. John performed a cover of Loggins & Massin's Danny's
Song much like Josh Kionghoffer had performed the 1969 Glen Campbell hit Galveston the last time the Peppers had performed in H-Town at the
Toyota Center in 2017.
The venue
was completely full except for the exclusive Diamond seats directly behind home
plate and the right out-field area that was obstructed by the stage setup. The Peppers
are most likely picking up a bigger audience these days thanks to the return of
guitarist John Frusciante, now in his third stint with the group. His melodic chops revolutionized their sound,
fueling the 1991 breakthrough Blood Sugar Sex Magik as well as their 1999
comeback Californication. He seems to still light a fire under them even today.
I'm pretty impressed by the
longevity of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who first formed 41 years ago with a
mix of rap, rock, funk and punk. The band is touring with Kiedis, 60; Flea, 60;
Smith, 61; and Frusciante, 53, the same lineup as when I saw them headlining
Lalapalooza in 1992 at the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers finished the night with an encore
by a shirtless Anthony that included I Could Have Lied and Give It
Away.
Flea performed Friday’s entire show shirtless,
wearing a purple skirt with a gold belt and matching socks to represent his
favorite NBA team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Smith similarly wore a Lakers hat
and a sleeveless purple jumpsuit. Kiedis wore a blue netted top and black shorts
emblazoned with a sequined playboy bunny. John donned pants and t-shirt both featuring
custom airbrush art.
