Red Hot Chili Peppers Ended Tour in Saint Louis Tuesday

Sean Derrick August 1, 2024 0 Comments Red Hot Chili Peppers, RHCP, Saint Louis concert review and photos

Red Hot Chili Peppers performing at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Saint Louis Tuesday. Photo by Carrie Ogle.

–by Randy Thompson

–photos by Carrie Ogle

On Tuesday night, August 2nd, the Red Hot Chili Peppers lit up the stage at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater after strong storms lit up the St. Louis area. Despite the expected hot and humid St Louis weather the venue was sold out, and everybody was anticipating a night of hard edged, in your face music.

Opening up the night was OTOBOKE BEAVER, an all female Japanese punk band out of Kyoto. This band is a four-piece group with Yoyoyoshie on guitar, Hiro-chan on bass, KahoKiss on drums and Accorinrin on lead vocals, and they came out roaring. They were dressed in bright, flowery outfits that belied the razor-sharp edge of their hard-core delivery. At times, they blasted away at their guitars like power saws, but throughout the entire set was an underlying flow of catchy melodies that would surprise you. They are a tight group, and they were definitely enthusiastic about opening the show. The best way to describe the band is ‘chaotic dissonance’ with full throttle, machine gun delivery.

They served up high energy punk rock jams in Japanese that included intricate tempo changes with emphatic energy, shredding guitars, karate kicks, screams, and shrieks. It was a joyful, in-your-face performance as demonstrated when Accorinrin turned to slap her ass while singing, or when Yoyoyoshie jumped into the pit to the delight of the audience. This was a powerful setup to the upcoming, high-energy act to follow.

After Otoboke Beaver left, the stage turned dark with purple lighting. There was intricate orchestral music playing on the empty stage. All of a sudden, the lights came on and out came Flea in his long purple shorts doing a handstand and then grabbing a bass guitar.

After a 10-minute jam session with just Flea and drummer Chad Smith the rest of the band followed him and they flowed immediately into the first song, a hard rocking, guitar driven piece that was followed by lead singer Anthony Kiedis leaping onto the stage and roaring into “Can’t Stop”. With that, the entire sold-out crowd jumped to their feet, from the pit to the lawn, and stayed there for the entire show.

Hands were waving, people were singing along, and the Peppers were slashing and thrashing their hardcore brand of California punk rock music full steam ahead with no interest in slowing down. There were some quiet moments when guitarist, John Frusciante, stepped up with an acoustic guitar and would play a brief interlude of “I Remember You” by the Ramones or “Danny’s Song” by Gator Creek. As soon as he finished, the band would jump back into a high-powered, onslaught of unrelenting rock and roll music that we are all familiar with. They mixed in their radio hits, think “Dani California” and “Californication” with dusted off gems such as “Here Ever After” and “Suck My Kiss”. They played as a tight unit who you can tell have been together for a very long time. The lyrics have a lot to say, and have an intensely rebellious theme throughout. Lead singer Anthony Kiedis delivers them perfectly and with a voice that is as strong as it ever was. The two roaring guitars came together for searingly beautiful, instrumental pieces that kept the audience jumping up and down and pumping their fists.

Their long-time drummer, Chad Smith, was as solid as you would expect from an iconic musician who has had quite an influence on the rock music world. Throughout the set, there were psychedelic images displayed on the screens, adding a hypnotic flavor to the show. The band itself was high energy, particularly because Flea and Kiedis were whirling dervishes, dancing, running in circles, swaying, and gesturing to the crowd for the entire show, (all this while Kiedis was wearing a pressure boot). There is no denying that this continues to be a powerful, relevant band who have no intention of stopping. After the encore Smith said to the audience with a wink and a nudge, “It’s the end of the tour but we’ll see you again, you can count on that!” And the audience agreed to make that happen.

There was one major issue with the show, however, and that came in the way the band (tour managers and tour security, etc. not the band themselves) treated the photographers. The photographers were given approval to shoot the first 3 songs form the pit (standard industry procedure). However, they all were rudely kicked out of the pit less than a minute into “Can’t Stop” (yes, the first song). Evidently, the tour considered the 10-minute intro jam as the first 3 songs. Yeah, pretty ridiculous. Thanks for telling the photographers about this little tidbit of information. It would have been very helpful in planning. Instead, for many of the photo pros in the pit it seemed like just a big waste of time.

Otoboke Beaver Setlist:

Yakitori

Akimahenka

Don’t Light my Fire

Bad Luck

S’il vous plait

Love is Short

What do you mean you have to talk to me at this late date

Introduce Me to Your Family

Datsu. Hikage no onna

Dirty Old Fart is Waiting for my Reaction

I am Not Maternal