ORLANDO, Fla. – Not even Florida storms could dampen the energy pulsing through Orlando’s Camping World Stadium Thursday night when the Red Hot Chili Peppers took the stage.
Together, vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante, who recently returned to the band after a decadelong hiatus, showed the audience they are the definitive voices of their generation’s alt, funk and psychedelic rock movement.
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The California-based rockers brought fans of all ages to their feet in the stands, where they swayed and headbanged along to timeless classics like “Dani California,” “Snow (Hey Oh),” and “Californication,” even after the concert was pushed back by two hours due to storms in the area.
The headliners came on after rousing performances by Thundercat and then the Strokes, who riled the crowd with their extraordinary light show to the beat of fan favorites such as “Under the Cover of Darkness” and “Last Nite.”
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“Thank you for sticking with us through the weather,” Flea told a screaming crowd before the band’s showstopping opener, “Around the World.” And around the world is exactly where they’ve been as part of “Unlimited Love,” their first-ever headlining stadium tour since the band was formed in 1983.
Since then, the group’s durability has proven unmatched, lasting well beyond the great artists who came up beside them. It’s a foundation that set the bedrock for a loyal and extensive fanbase, whose shouts of excitement echoed through the stadium any time the frontmen took the mic.
But the Red Hot Chili Peppers were just as enthusiastic, a feeling reflected in the psychedelic backdrop that accompanied each song and the band’s own bursts of energy in between. It’s hard to believe the musicians doing handstands and high jumps on stage are almost in their 60s.
From the concert’s start to finish, the group accessed the kind of punk rock and rebellion that lives in us all, a sentiment that spilled across the stadium as people rattled off the lyrics to the likes of “Give It Away” and “Me and My Friends” before a “By the Way” encore.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers also earned the honor of closing out a record-breaking year at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium, venue officials said.
“The amount of stadium concerts this year has been truly unprecedented and we are beyond grateful for the opportunity to host so many big-name artists in such an iconic setting,” Orlando Venues Chief Venues Officer Allen Johnson said in a statement.
Since its multimillion-dollar 2015 reconstruction, the venue has only averaged about one concert per year.
But on Thursday night, the alt-funk rockers were the sixth stadium concert to hit the stadium stage in 2022, preceded by the likes of Billy Joel on March 12, Garth Brooks on March 26, Sir Paul McCartney on May 28, Def Leppard / Mötley Crüe on June 19 and Bad Bunny on Aug. 5.
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