Red Hot Chilli Peppers with Deerhoof and Jack Irons at FirstOntario Centre

Let’s shut down the middle of the Hamilton core and have a party and that is exactly what they did!  The beer was flowing, the air was humid and the musical sounds of Standard Transmission was bellowing thru the air.  I can’t think of a better way to kick off the summer concert season in Hamilton than the one and only Red Hot Chili Peppers performing at The First Ontario Centre.  The capacity crowd was primed and ready to go even before the Chili Peppers hit the stage.  Fans of all ages were in attendance, some even bringing their kids along to introduce them to this iconic band.  

The band came out on stage and started the night with a solo, but not just a drum or a guitar solo. Flea, Chad Smith and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer entertained the crowd with an extended instrumental jam before Anthony came on stage. Going right into “Can’t Stop” The fans jumped to their feet almost simultaneously the second The Chili Peppers hit the stage.  

I love it when bands start the night off with such noteworthy songs, not leaving them till the end of the night.  I would think it would be difficult for Red Hot Chili Peppers to leave all their hits till the end seeing as they have such a vast song list to chose from.  They of course played “Scar Tissue”, “Californication”, and “Suck My Kiss”.  There  isn’t much I can say about this band that hasn’t been said before.  A band that has been around since 1983, I am sure it has all been said before and repeated numerous times.  

The stage set up was fairly simple in design but the lighting system was pretty Impressive.  I wish there was a proper way to explain the lights hanging from the rafters, I couldn’t even hazard a guess as to how many individual lights were hanging from the truss.  Each pendulum light moved up and down throughout the whole entire show on their own pulley system creating “waves” high above the crowd and over the stage.  This simple lighting technique was one of the more impressive that I have seen at a concert in quite sometime, and I have seen a lot of shows.  

The encore at the end of the night was something to witness, probably 85% of the crowd lit up the First Ontario Centre with ease using their cell phone flashlights, cheering and chanting they wanted more.  The Chili Peppers heard their cries and Flea took it upon himself to re-enter the stage not on his feet but walked across the entire stage on his hands.  I have only ever seen a member of a band do this once before (Russ Graham from The Killer Dwarfs) who while on stage does a headstand.  The fans of course cheered with approval and showed their appreciation by singing every lyric to “Give It Away”, which was the last song of the night.

Once again thanks to the crew because without them there is no show!