The Red Hot Chili Peppers/Post Malone

Suncorp Stadium 29.01.2023

Over 45.000 people crammed into Suncorp Stadium on a Sunday night to see a genuine double header, Post Malone and the mighty Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

To offer context, Post Malone has over fifty million streams per month on Spotify. While RHCP … well they’re up there with the biggest and most influential bands of the last thirty years. 

When Post Malone hit the stage – all eyes were on him. The artist – armed with one microphone and a backing track – lit up the big screens. Wearing an AC/DC shirt and prowling the stage like a man possessed, his set included the likes of the opener ‘Wow’, ‘Psycho’, ‘Cooped Up’, a fan assisted ‘Stay’ (well played Viktor) and his own self avowed favourite of the night, ‘White Iverson’. 

You don’t sell 80 million records over four albums without charisma – Post Malone has it in spades.

RHCP released two albums in 2022, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen. The work not only saw the band reunite with producer Rick Rubin but marked the return of guitarist John Frusciante for the first time since 2006. 

So, what does that mean? Well, if you were into AOR, it’s like when Fleetwood Mac got Christine McVie and Lindsay and Stevie back in the band. It’s up there with Mick Taylor briefly reuniting with the Stones. 

You see … rock and roll is essentially about alchemy. You need the mythical ‘three chords and the truth’, but it’s how the people, the players and the distinct personalties involved work together. Having Frusciante return is freaking huge. You could feel that from the moment the band kicked into the opening jam. 

Seeing RHCP play is a bit like watching Picasso knock together a painting. Each one will be brilliant and decidedly different. RHCP do not go on tour with a preordained or laminated set list. 

Tonight, the band are in terrific form. Drummer Chad Smith and bassist Flea are one of the great rhythm sections and they illustrate this over and over again. 

And Anthony Kiedis … well he’s up there with Bono and Vedder as one of the era defining frontmen of his generation. 

Tonight the band play like titans with an intensity that spills from the front rows to the bleachers. 

Highlights included ‘Dani California’, new song ‘Tippa My Tongue’, ‘Californication’ and a mighty ‘By The Way’. 

Along the way Flea paid homage to the late Tom Verlaine. They cruelly teased the riff from ‘Higher Ground’ and didn’t play it. At least five radio smashes were missing from the setlist, but that’s a chance you take. They’ve never been a ‘greatest hits jukebox’. 

‘Give It Away’ brought the show to a close and we wonder if the band had broken a curfew. When the stadium lights went up and the realisation that ‘Under The Bridge’ hadn’t been played – you could hear a communal sigh. 

Always dynamite. Nothing has wearied them. 

Sean Sennett

Time Off