MUSIC REVIEW: Age no problem for Red Hot Chili Peppers

Age presents a problem for most rock bands and one would think that general rule would apply to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The long-running California act arrived on Saturday night to play for a crowd of almost ten thousand at Verizon Arena for the current tour supporting the group’s eleventh album, The Getaway. The two founding members at the heart of the band – lead singer Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea (Michael Balzary) – are fast approaching their mid-50s. The band, in its fourth decade since forming in Los Angeles in 1983, has Grammys and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame membership as laurels to rest on. The band doesn’t seem to want to rest.

Flagging energy was hardly a problem as Kiedis and in particular Flea – forever bouncing, head bobbing and shirtless after the first song -- ripped their way through the band’s deep rock-funk catalog. Together with guitarist John Klinghoffer and powerhouse drummer Chad Smith, the Verizon concert was bracketed by Chili Pepper hits and featured a middle section where the group was content to explore new songs from The Getaway (“Bad Robot” and “Dark Necessities” among others) and lesser-known cuts such as “Charlie” from Stadium Arcadium.

The group also was seemed happy to plow through the songs with little time spent pumping up or even addressing the generally adoring crowd. Flea at one point stepped up to the mic and admonished the audience to treasure the moment because they weren’t “in jail or in the hospital.” Kiedis never spoke directly to the audience except for at the very end of the set before the encore and that was to only say “thanks Arkansas.”

The stoic nature of the group accentuated a problem – the Red Hot Chili Pepper songs start to sound the same. With no backing vocals and little varied instrumentation, everything was running together. However, toward the end, the hits arrived starting with a big, echo-y version of the Stevie Wonder cover “Higher Ground.” The highlight had to be “Under the Bridge,” the heart-wrenching ballad from a group that normally traffics in faster tempos. The Verizon crowd sang along, knowing the words by heart. It’s doubtful they would begrudge the Chili Peppers another decade or two.

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