Red Hot Chili Peppers.Photo: Kevin Mazur
New York City’s Apollo Theater may be known for its legendary contributions to jazz music, but on Tuesday night, it was the site of something a bit more punk rock: theRed Hot Chili Peppers.
The alt-rockers played an intimate, 14-song set at the storied Harlem venue for SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series in celebration of their SiriusXM channel Whole Lotta Red Hot, which is available on channel 105 through Sept. 30.
Frontman Anthony Kiedis, 59, drummer Chad Smith, 60, bassist Flea, 59, and guitarist John Frusciante, 52, ran through a series of energetic classics and new favorites alike, including cuts off their most recentNo. 1 albumUnlimited Love, which came out in April.
After an introduction fromChris Rock, the group kicked things off with “Can’t Stop,” and played everything from “Soul to Squeeze” and “Black Summer” to a cover of the 1970 Funkadelic song “What Is Soul?”, which they originally recorded as aBy the WayB-side.
A number of stars were in the building to take in the show, includingColin Jostand ScarlettJohansson, Michael J. Fox, Questlove,Jason Biggs, Stella Maxwell, Henrik Lundqvist, Guy Oseary and John McEnroe.
Red Hot Chili Peppers.Kevin Mazur
The Apollo has long played host to legendary acts including Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and James Brown upon openingunder its current namein 1934. The theater received state and city landmark status in 1983.
“We went in search of ourselves as the band that we have somehow always been. Just for the fun of it we jammed and learned some old songs. Before long we started the mysterious process of building new songs,” Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote in a statement. “A beautiful bit of chemistry meddling that had befriended us hundreds of times along the way.”
The band continued, “Once we found that slipstream of sound and vision, we just kept mining. With time turned into an elastic waistband of oversized underwear, we had no reason to stop writing and rocking. It felt like a dream.”
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Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, Red Hot Chili Peppers have carved out a niche in the genre-bending world of alternative rock, blending rock, punk, metal and more into their unique sound.
Their self-titled debut album was released in 1984, and they broke through to the mainstream in 1991 withBlood Sugar Sex Magik, which included hits like “Under the Bridge” and “Give It Away.” They’ve had two No. 1 albums:Unlimited LoveandStadium Arcadiumin 2006.
source: people.com
