Photos by Neil Van
I remember when I was a much younger ROCKthusiast how in 1989 some friends of my father were so excited about The Rolling Stones’ upcoming Steel Wheels tour. I was still a couple of years away from taking the brunt of what would be the alternative rock explosion, but I was dismissive enough at the time to be of the firm opinion that the Stones were over the hill. After all, the first time they came to Toronto was in the mid-1960s more than 30 years beforehand. Fast-forward a little more than 30 years later to 2022 and now that same older music fan with greys beginning to show is seeing Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have been around just as long as when I thought the Stones were finished. The Stones are still rolling along even without Charlie Watts, and the Chilly Willies? They’re still freaky styley, rejuvenated and arguably better than ever with the return of guitar virtuoso John Frusciante to the Peppers’ patch. This is his third go-around with the band that has produced Unlimited Love, the band’s best album in quite awhile (maybe since 2003’s By the Way in my humble opinion).
And just like those Rolling Stones in 1989, Red Hot Chili Peppers found themselves headlining a massive stadium show at Rogers Centre. It was of course SkyDome back then; “You gotta admit, it’s a cooler name” Julian Casablancas quipped during The Strokes’ criminally short opening set which also saw the funktastic Thundercat on the bill. The latter seemed hurt that Drake couldn’t be bothered to check out his show in Toronto, although RHCP’s Flea helped restore his ego by proclaiming him to be the best bassist on the planet. High praise considering the source!
If you would have told me when I first saw the Chili Peppers in 1992 as part of Lollapalooza that they’d still be going strong with multiple generations of fiery, fervent supporters, antsy for even more to come…well I probably would have called you a corporate sellout along the lines of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Considering how spry Flea is at nearly 60 years old compared to when the Stones weren’t even in their fifties yet for Steel Wheels(!), we can expect a whole lot more groove-alicious jams from them in the future. The busy body appeared to be in a good but foul-mouthed mood all night, with one memorable line being about how he was “going to hit a home run in this bitch”. The improvisational chemistry between Flea, Frusciante and Will Ferrell lookalike Chad Smith is something to behold. I would totally listen to an endless instrumental playlist from this trio. Luckily for what looked to be at least 50,000 gathered at Rogers Centre there are plenty of hits with singer and mesh shirt-wearing, push broom mustache-sporting Anthony Kiedis to choose from, performed against a kaleidoscope of psychedelia where no substance enhancement was required. That didn’t stop people from disobeying Rogers Centre’s indoor smoking laws, but what would an alt-rock concert be without a little rule flaunting?
This said, the Chili Peppers’ Toronto setlist featured what would probably be considered some pretty deep cuts such as “I Like Dirt” and “Throw Away Your Television”. They weren’t going to let a crowd this big go home without a few singalongs about their home state. If Chad Smith’s backwards LA Dodgers hat and bass drum with the baseball team’s logo on it wasn’t enough of a giveaway as to where the Chilis are from (resplendent in a silvery jumpsuit I might add), they made sure to remind us with “Dani California” as well as “Californication”. They did fan fave “Under the Bridge” to open the encore, albeit without any candles leading to out-of-control bonfires like in the Woodstock ’99 documentary. Crazy to think how eight of the songs they played made it to #1 on Billboard’s alternative chart (The Rolling Stones have had eight Hot 100 number ones in total, BTW).
And I have to agree with Flea’s Twitter assessment that John Frusciante IS the most exciting guitarist on the earth. Sorry Jack White, I think you’re alright too.
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Be sure to check out Live Nation Ontario to see all of the other great acts that they will be bringing to Toronto this year.
