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The Red Hot Chili Peppers performance is hands down one of the greatest shows I've ever experienced. I know the exact date because I saved the original SA Concert poster and my ticket stub (I know, geeked out but the show was just that good). I remember the temperature was unseasonably warm. More like "hot". Hollywood's The Red Hot Chili Peppers opened for the Violent Femmes who were at the end of a run of massive alternative rock popularity that peaked for them in the early to mid-'80s. The Chilis were touring to promote their fourth album "Mother's Milk" and had a new 19-year-old wunderkind guitarist named John Frusciante who replaced the original guitarist Hillel Slovak who passed away less than a year earlier. Also new to the band was drummer Chad Smith. My brother and I ended up towards the front of the stage in the general admission crowd. No seats on the floor and the gym was totally packed. The show hadn't started and the next thing we knew, the crowd starting pushing and I was literally lifted off my feet as I was sandwiched and swayed back and forth for a few moments before it settled. We quickly moved to the bleachers with the thought of being crushed. The Chilis came onstage and from the first note just destroyed it and never stopped until the last encore. They were hungry and the new lineup had something to prove. I remember John played his trademark solo cover of the chorus of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" and people went crazy. Everybody and everything in the gym was dripping with sweat and the energy coming from the band was unlike anything I'd experienced before or since. By the time the Femmes came out the energy of the crowd was drained and some people surrendered to the lobby or outside to cool off. How could you follow a performance like that. |