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Photo: Steve Keros (Warner Music Group)
This specific Wednesday was a day that included quite some bad and sad news and therefor it was even more important to also see the shining, open and colourful side of the USA. It was the Red Hot Chili Peppers that are currently on the road in Europe, bringing some brightness into the grey days which are dominated by darkness.
Before the legendary four-piece from California started it was Deerhoof that got the support slot. Actually there is no need to go further into details. The guys are into psychedelic rock music that was not a real burner. Normally it's not an easy thing for support bands of big acts like the Peppers. Fans come to see the main act and, with some exceptions, everything else is just better or worse entertainment to bridge the waiting time. Deerhoof got 40 minutes for a set that was OK, including a cover version of Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" which was the worst one I've ever heard so far.
Anyhow, the clock kept on running and the beginning of the Red Hot Chili Peppers show came closer. The four-piece from California started with a jam intro done by Flea, Chad and Josh. These three guys made quite some wild noise which acted as a perfect starter for what was supposed to come. "Around the World", "Dani California" and "Scar Tissue" followed and were very much appreciated by the crowd.
Anthony Kiedis and Co. kept the energy level high. The guys played around 100 minutes, fully motivated and in constant motion. There wasn't any time during the show where the guys stood still and it's amazing how precise they play their instruments while jumping and running around all the time.
With "Hey" the guys added a new song on this year's tour setlist and the encore included with "War Pigs" a black Sabbath cover that was sang by Flea himself.
The big wins came without any doubt towards the end of the show. "Under the Bridge", "By the Way" and especially "Give it Away" are songs that must be on every Peppers setlist and it has been those tracks that rounded off a well-chosen set.
Next to all the mentioned the stage design was kept pretty clean and simple. There were the obligatory video screens behind the drum kit but for the rest there wasn't that much decoration. However, there was one exception which was the impressive light show. Half of the ceiling was covered with an installation of hundreds of light tubes and all of them could be moved individually which gave the whole set-up an almost endless flexibility of shapes and forms. On top of it the colours could be changed as well which added to the experience.
The Red Hot Chilli Peppers turned a dark day into a bright one, something I think is very important in these days.
Setlist:
- Intro Jam
- Around the World
- Dani California
- Scar Tissue
- Dark Necessities
- Hey
- Me & My Friends
- Go Robot
- Califonication
- Sick Love
- Sir Psycho Sexy
- They're Red Hot
- Ethiopia
- Magic Johnson
- Suck My Kiss
- Under the Bridge
- By the Way
- Anthem (Encore)
- War Pigs (Encore)
- Goodbye Angels (Encore)
- Mommy, Where's Daddy? (Encore)
- Give it away (Encore)
Location: Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Date: November 9th, 2016
Photo: Markus Wiedenmann