Red Hot Chili Peppers' relentless energy entertains sold-out Star Lake crowd
BURGETTSTOWN ― Bass guitars got slapped.
Guitar strings got shredded.
And Anthony Kiedis ran circles around anyone else daring to lay claim as alternative rock's most animated frontman.
In other words, another relentlessly high-energy Red Hot Chili Peppers performance unfolded Tuesday night at a sold-out Pavilion at Star Lake.
Famed bassist Flea did a walking handstand for his dramatic entrance on stage. Once righted, and his long, yellow sarong in place, the bare-chested Flea tore into a frenzied jam, locked in with Chad Smith's heavy and fleet drum beats and guitarist John Frusciante's fiery licks.
Kiedis hit the stage running laps for "Around The World." Throughout the night he seldom stayed in place, pantomiming all sorts of hand gestures and elastic leg moves. You could assign names to his abundant stage antics, like the sideways gallop, the condor lifting off, and warming up the dice. At one point, he did a double arm-stretched motion like a baseball umpire twice indicating "safe."
Flea's rubbery motions entertained, too, especially when doing his slap bass technique where his open hand smacked his strings. Emblazoned on his bass were the words "Support your local freak."
Smith followed the night's third selection "The Zephyr Song" with an impressive drum solo. Next came the evening's first big hit, "Dani California," accented with a thunderous Smith finale, a Flea karate kick, and Kiedis clutching the mic double-handed, singing with gusto.
"That's for Andy Warhol," Flea randomly remarked at the song's end.
Many fans held aloft phone cameras to capture "Otherside."
The biographical 2022 Eddie Van Halen tribute "Eddie" brought appropriate guitar shredding from Frusciante.
Keidis sang a verse of "This Is Radio Clash" followed by his bandmates playing a snippet of The Clash's "London's Calling" as a prelude to 1999's "Right on Time."
Red Hot Chili Peppers kept the hard-edged funk a-coming. The four bandmates tightened into a circle in front of Smith's drum kit for the slower-tempo "Soul to Squeeze," a song where many in the audience mouthed along the chorus to each other, rather than singing aloud.
There were a good number of parents with kids for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' first western Pennsylvania show since May 2017 at PPG Paints Arena.
A Flea-Frusciante tandem solo preceded "Californication," one of the few songs where Kiedis stood relatively still, which in a roundabout way brought extra gravity to the lyrics about the glitz and excesses of the California dream.
The moody "Black Summer," from 2022, was a standout, powered by Frusciante's atmospheric guitar wails. Kiedis toned down a smidge the over-enunciation of the "archers on the run" line.
The mid-set bogged down and could have benefitted from a "Mother's Milk" gem like "Knock Me Down" or "Higher Ground".
And unlike alt-country star Tyler Childers two nights earlier at a similarly sold-out Star Lake, Kiedis didn't give us much glimpse into his personality with clever or witty banter.
Though fans got what they wanted; a show sprinkled with radio hits, and not so much loaded with melodicism as high-octane force, hard-driving hooks and enthusiasm.
The openers, alt-jazz duo Domi and J.D. Beck, brought virtuosity, or as they both joked, a whole lot of notes. French keyboardist Domi sat facing drummer Beck as they whipped through high-speed instrumentals. Beck acknowledged many in the crowd had bought tickets expecting to see rapper Kid Cudi. But the Kid broke a leg falling off the stage at Coachella.
Though unusual, Domi and Beck kept things interesting enough, and earned applause.
Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Red Hot Chili Peppers' relentless energy entertains sold-out Star Lake
