Red Hot Chili Pepper concert review (with photos), Winnipeg Manitoba September 20th, 2006

The Red Hot Chili Peppers finally made a Winnipeg appearance after forming 23 years ago.

We had fantastic seats for the show as the photos (off my camera phone, the new Sony/ Ericson 810i) show. It is nice to see that there are still musicians around these days that actually can write, create and play there own instruments while entertaining us as well. Bands like this should be supported as you will never see them lip syncing or playing along to a click track.

Bassist Flea shows why there are few that can equal is slap funk style. Guitarist John Frusiante shows why the RHCP lost fans when he left. His funk rhythm, tight in the pocket feel was a perfect compliment to Flea and rock solid drummer Chad Smith. His solo's cut through with passion that showed his Hendrix influence. Great musicians tend to stand out and have a sound of there own, which these guys do.

Singer Anthony Kiedis, while a great front man, didn't seem to be all there last night. I had seen the RHCP in 1999 at Woodstock.This one just seemed to miss the mark.. At times he seemed to struggle vocally and was not half as animated as I'd scene him before. He wasn't the focus of show for me as I'd be watching Flea and John a lot more than him.

The reason might be that the concert relied heavily on new material. As a fan of them since 1988 I was hoping they would pull a lot more of the older material out of their bag of tricks. In fairness thou, they have such a brilliant catalog to choose from I didn't leave disappointed.

One other note I'd like to point out which is both good and bad. I'm glad they didn't "ROCK STAR" it up to the crowd but doing the typical...."lets hear this side......let's hear you on that side" crap, that is only cool if its your first concert ever. On the flip side it would have been nice to acknowledge the appreciative crowd. It left a kind of impersonal touch in my mind and a "we are just playing another show" kind of feel at times.

The sound and lights were great. Thank you MTS Centre for giving us the ability to actually hear the band. There was a clean sound mix which added to the whole experience. The light show was incredible and original. No fewer than 12 track spots were used and the rotating video wall created an interesting effect. The stage was minimal and uncluttered which left the focas on the band.

The final verdict was the concert itself was great. I would give it a 4 out of five star rating and most importantly I'd see them again.

Red Hot Chili Pepper Photos September 20, 2006  Winnipeg MB
   

   
   

 

   
   
   

 

   
   
   
   

 

to blog