RHCP: They may be old, but they’re still awesome

RHCP: They may be old, but they’re still awesome

April 11, 2012 · by rogle · in ,

By: Rachel Ogle

Instead of going home for Easter weekend, some friends and I road tripped to South Carolina to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Some might say it’s crazy to drive ten hours for a concert (thanks, mom). I prefer to think of it as dedication. The painfully long drive was well worth it. The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been one of my favorite bands since junior high, and Saturday night they did not disappoint.

If you’ve never though about heading to Columbia, South Carolina, don’t. After the immediate celebration of finally making it to Columbia, we were perturbed by the general lack of humans. Columbia was a complete ghost town; I’m fairly confident we saw no signs of life for a good fifteen minutes while walking around downtown. Apparently they were all already at the Colonial Life Arena, because every single seat was filled.

I was afraid that the Chili Peppers would mostly play songs from their new album to promote it, (which I am guilty of not listening to yet), but the set list was a great mix of songs off a lot of different albums. Hearing “Otherside” near the beginning of the concert induced some obnoxious screaming, unfortunately mostly from me. “Otherside” is from Californication, one of the band’s most successful albums from 1999 that produced a lot of hits (like “Scar Tissue” and “Californication”, obviously). Other favorites of mine that they played: “By the Way”, “Monarchy of Roses”, “Higher Ground”, “Under the Bridge”, and “Charlie”.

I think another reason the concert was so incredible was the band’s high energy and stage presence. The bassist, Flea, stood out the most. Flea was one of the co-founders of the Red Hot Chili Peppers back in 1983. He has blue hair, performed shirtless, and has got to be in his late fifties or early sixties. At one point during the show, he walked across the entire stage on his hands.

The background visuals were also amazing. The stage itself lit up, in addition to a massive screen behind the band and a circle of screens above them. During the encore, “Give it Away”, photos of people from the audience that were taken before the show were flashed on the screen. The Red Hot Chili Peppers gave an incredible concert—check them out at Bonnaroo this summer if you’re lucky enough to have tickets!

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