Red Hot Chili Peppers Australian tour setlist overhaul wins crowds after fan backlash

The Red Hot Chili Peppers made one crucial change to their Melbourne stadium show last night, and it appears to have won over their fanbase.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ decision to change their setlist for their Melbourne show has won over fans, following a barrage of criticism over songs they were playing for their tour.

The legendary rockers are currently in the middle of an Australian stadium tour, playing to massive audiences in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.

And a song they added to their final Melbourne show last night has proved to be a hit among their local fanbase, with their decision to play 2006 track Wet Sand earning admiration from supporters.

Hundreds of fans took to the Chili Peppers’ Instagram page simply writing, “Wet sand”, in response to their post about the updated setlist.

It comes after last week’s Aussie shows were met with a decidedly mixed reaction as the Chili Peppers ignored many of their biggest Aussie hits – ’90s classics like Suck My Kiss, All My Friends and arguably their signature song, the 1991 Australian number one Under The Bridge – in favour of new material.

The group’s February 2 Sydney concert caused the biggest fan backlash. Tracks from their two newest albums Unlimited Love and Return To The Dream Canteen – both released last year – took up seven of the setlist’s 20 songs, while they performed just one song from their biggest-selling album in this country, 1999’s 8x platinum Californication.

Frontman Anthony Kiedis during the band’s Aussie tour. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Other multi-platinum albums like 1995’s One Hot Minute and 2006’s Stadium Arcadium were only represented by one song each – but it was the absence of their most well-known song, Under The Bridge, that left fans wondering why the band had such an aversion to playing their hits in a stadium setting.

Last night in Melbourne, a couple of tweaks to the setlist kept fans happier: All three major singles from their 1991 breakthrough album Blood Sugar Sex Magick got an airing, including, for the first time during this leg of the tour, Suck My Kiss and Under The Bridge.

And 2002’s Australian 5x platinum album By The Way was well-represented with three songs, but the band once again largely snubbed their biggest album Californication, playing only the title track.

Still, something’s gotta give when you have 30-odd years of hits to get through.

More than 500,000 Aussies bought it, but the Chili Peppers haven’t shown Californication much love at some of their Australian shows.

The tweaks came after fans flooded the Accor Stadium Facebook page with complaints following their first Sydney show.

“Wish I could take back my decision to go to RHCP. Absolutely gutted by that performance,” one person wrote.

“Well that was disappointing, definitely won’t be seeing them again,” said another fan.

“Good experience [but] won’t see ’em again. Their set was new song focused and the crowd struggled to feel it,” said a third.

“Been their biggest fan all my life and after that concert would never go again. Played a few old songs but mostly new rubbish that no one knows,” someone else wrote.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Australian tour finishes at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Sunday.

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ February 9 Melbourne setlist:

Intro Jam

Around the World

Dani California

The Zephyr Song

Aquatic Mouth Dance

Otherside

Fake as Fu@k

Tippa My Tongue

Right on Time

Eddie

Wet Sand

Reach Out

Californication

What Is Soul? (Funkadelic cover)

The Heavy Wing

Black Summer

By the Way

Encore:

Soul to Squeeze

Give It Away

Originally published as Red Hot Chili Peppers Australian tour setlist overhaul wins crowds after fan backlash