Live Review: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Global Stadium Tour – Optus Stadium, Perth – 12 February 2023.
Review by Sheldon Ang (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Erica Lorimer (Post Malone)
Photos by Sheldon Ang Photography
—
The instrumentalists stroll onto the stage under the cover of twilight, with blue hues carving three distinctive silhouettes. By the virtue of their presence, the explosive roar from over fifty thousand souls sparked the engine; the bass guitarist plugs his strings, as he swings his head back and forth in a torturous motion, propelled by his shirtless torso. Through the body elasticity of a gymnast, he catapults several feet vertically with a perfect repertoire. The lead guitarist smashes his string, reverberating a wailing rich texture across the colosseum through the crisp finger licking swirls. Meanwhile the rhythm master and musical captain plummeting his drums like a possessed demon with the ferocity of maniacal practitioner. The palpability of the creative tension between the guitar and bass is profoundly tight, even to the toned deaf. The grandeur and the fine texture from the lead guitarist and the punk funk sonic boom of the bass player are mediated by the drums, culminating into a beautiful catastrophe in preparation for the next dance, as the lead vocalist enters the den…
Red Hot Chili Peppers, or RHCP performed the final Global Stadium Tour of the Australian and New Zealand leg at (officially) “The World’s Best-Looking Stadium”, Optus Stadium in Perth to over fifty thousand revelers. Such is the sensation of RHCP that Post Malone – a global sensation in his own right after selling more than 80 million records across four albums, was quick off the blocks in supporting the iconic band that play more rock types than the quantity in a geologist’s cabinet.
The foursome from L.A. sparked the set with Can’t Stop from the 2002 studio album By The Way. It wasn’t surprising, given the energy and melody of this distinctive track oozed from the performance, flicking an overdose of punk and funk. It was awe inspiring to witness guitarist John Frusciante – who rejoined the band in 2019, to be in complete control and firing all cylinders, with a steady riff culminating one of his best plays. And as for lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis, despite forty years of professional vocal usage, remains timeless through his signature staccato baritone and rap styles. Bass guitarist Flea oozed more flair than the colour of his hair, setting the tempo of his on-stage shenanigans though his rhythmic movement, working with his musical sidekick drummer Chad Smith, considered one of the best drummers on the planet as evident in his performance so far.
The mellow intro guitar riff sparked the excitement in the next track, Scar Tissue, taking fans to the nostalgic bed of the night clubbing years. The melodic and subtler intricate mode and the beautiful, lush sounds were richly performed with the classic solo throughout. Most critiques would agree that the album Californication, released before the turn of the millennium and where this track resides, is the second coming album of RHCP.
Despite props weren’t needed for an iconic band like RPCP, the stage visuals were as trippy as the 60’s sex revolution, with a flourish of colours in a kaleidoscopic trance of psychedelia, thematically stirred in water colour, congruously sipped into the multi faceted rock composition of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The foundation of this tour is to showcase the two albums released in 2022, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen six months later, forming the back to back release. One third of the setlist are from these two albums; The Drummer, Here Ever After, Watchu Thinking, Carry Me Home, Tippa My Tongue and Black Summer – which is a reasonable ratio. Iconic bands from the pre 90’s that have survived through the evolution of music tend to stick to the classics during live performances, with a hint or two of the latest releases. Often, the proud display of recent work are often met by the awkard silence from the crowd; but that wasn’t the case for RHCP as thousands of revelers were moving emphatically as if they were listening to the old school classic, with hands floating in the air and phones dotting the canopy of thousands.
Nevertheless, the 1991 super funk rock and incendiary Suck My Kiss from the legendary Blood Sugar Sex Magik album elevated fans to the next level of euphoria. The stage antics were reflected onto the crowd through the formation of the world’s biggest moshpit – thanks to the funk rock rap metal that sounded as raw on stage as it is on track number five on one of greatest albums of the 90’s, as the night fades into the encore.
Under The Bridge
With the guitar intro kicked in, the cumulative voice of fans roared, as if the home team has kicked the winning goal at the Optus Stadium. As Kiedis began to sing Under the Bridge, the guitar playing became more rapid, and with the chorus hits, he sang with perfect delivery and control, backed by fifty thousand vocalists. In 1991, the track propelled Red Hot Chili Peppers onto mainstream airplay. Under The Bridge was the high school anthem of the early 90’s – and largely contributed to the success of the album; as for the fans tonight, it was the icing on the cake that was already delectable.
The night ended with Give It Away, again from the Blood Sugar, Sex Magik album. The sweet sounds of the bassline by Flea were striking, causing involuntary head movement on the mass, beautifully driving the hyperactive and crystal clear chorus of the “R” orientated Give it Away, Give it Away, Give it Away Now of Anthony Kiedis.
After forty years, the Red Hot Chili Peppers remain as of the most iconic bands on the planet, thanks to their revolutionary recordings and world class live entertainment.
As for POST MALONE (Words by Erica Lorimer)…
Post Malone is the ultimate showman.
After feeling cooped up for two years, the sense of occasion smouldering in the stadium exploded in blue light, sparking the dramatic entrance of the Californian rapper, singer and songwriter Post Malone.
An artist of intense success and wide appeal, Malone gently invited his guests to “Let’s party man!” with well known hits he ironically described as “shitty songs”. The 16 song setlist including four US number ones featuring I Like You, Stay (with “Michael” fan on stage), Circles, rockstar, Cooped Up and super popular anthem Sunflower.
The charismatic showman effortlessly thrilled guests (who he called “ladies and gentlemen”) with his distinctive voice and “shoey” acts with laconic chanting, “Here’s to Posty, He’s true blue”. Between songs he enveloped himself into the hearts of the audience by regularly and lovingly caressing them with appreciation and soft spoken declarations of “I love you guys so f**king much!”. A quiet pause was suddenly punctured by spectacular pyrotechnics encasing the singer in fire during Take What You Want. Malone respectfully explained he co-wrote the song with Ozzy Osborne who he playfully referred to as an “up and coming” artist the audience might know.
Paradoxes continued as fans were quickly treated to Malone dramatically smashing his guitar on stage only to then carefully and quietly supervise sharing it out to front row fans as if it were pieces of a birthday party cake.
On leaving the stage, the charming host of the party humbly expressed his joy to support the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and left fans with an inspiring message “Live your truth” and “…nothing can stop you”.
About the Writer/Photographer: Sheldon Ang Media (est. May 2022) have been accredited to photograph and review the hottest acts in Perth including KISS, Sting, RnB Fridayz Live, The Kid LAROI, Midnight Oil, The Killers and Rufus Du Sol, with reviews shared by the likes of UB40, Delta Goodrem, The Fabolous Caprittos and Synthony on social media. He has interviewed rockers Ace Frehley (KISS), John Steel (The Animals), Frank Ferrer (Guns N Roses), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Andrew Farris (INXS), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Ian Moss (Cold Chisel) and forty other legends.
Erica Lorimer (on Post Malone review) holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Western Australia (UWA), majoring in English Literature and Economics, and a Certificate IV in Design. She is also a freelance photographer who loves capturing images of live music and travel photography. She enjoys shooting film with vintage cameras and making prints in a home darkroom. She has lived in Japan, the UK and Nigeria.
Sheldon Ang Media expresses his gratitude to Live Nation Australia, Revolutions Per Minute (Nicole and Anouk), Red Hot Chili Peppers and Post Malone for the Press Accreditation and Reviewer seats.
Spotify – Unlimited Love – Album by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Spotify – Return of the Dream Canteen – Album by Red Hot Chili Peppers
