With few options offering real competition at this time slot, almost all attendees gathered at the main stage of Mad Cool to enjoy Red Hot Chili Peppers. To secure a favorable viewing position for the band, either ample time or some spatial awareness was required. In the case of the writer, traversing the venue and passing by nearly empty food trucks at that hour was enough to find a spot to the left of the stage. It was less crowded but close enough to hear everything clearly (something that, according to social media, wasn’t the case for everyone).
At this point in their career, the Los Angeles band can afford to do whatever they please, and they demonstrated this. Who starts a concert with a noisy improvisation? Only them, and in a way, it’s brilliant. After that, the concert itself began with “Around the World.”
Despite what the harshest critics may say, this band cannot give a bad concert, especially with Flea reaffirming himself as the virtuoso he is, and on more than one occasion, he didn’t hesitate to play and exchange solos with John Frusciante, finally back in the band. The bassist even had time to chat with the audience and share a few stories with a couple in the crowd who were about to get married.
