Red Hot Chili Peppers deliver knockout punch at Docklands
The Red Hot Chili Peppers unleashed their not-so-secret weapon, and support act Post Malone almost stole the show, at Marvel Stadium.
Entertainment
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The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Post Malone played a dazzling double bill of superstar stadium rock at Docklands on Tuesday night.
On paper, the one-two combination of the Chilis, funk-punk-rap-rock trailblazers, and Malone, a new school hip hop, pop and rock crossover artist with 19 billion streams, looked amazing.
On stage, at Marvel Stadium on Tuesday night, it was a knockout punch.
Malone born Austin Richard Post, dominates a sweet spot of trap beats and pop hooks with hits including I Like You, One Right Now, Better Now and Sunflower.
On Tuesday night, Post gave a masterclass on how to captivate the room. In short, he played the hits, and was fully engaged with the crowd.
Somehow, Post has an Aussie spirit, too. He did his regular party trick — a shoey — while declaring: “Here’s to Posty, true blue”.
Post was also fun and loose; he invited someone on stage to play acoustic guitar, challenged another to a dance battle, and delivered a passionate pep talk about chasing dreams.
Certainly, his hour-long support slot was a very hard act to follow.
But the Red Hot Chili Peppers, forty years strong as a band, played with urgency and intensity.
Fan favourites Can’t Stop and a stadium-sized singalong Snow (Hey Oh) came early in the set.
Melbourne-born bassist, Michael “Flea” Balzary, also flexed his hometown credentials.
“I was born in the Burwood Hospital,” he said. “Until I was four years old, we lived in the house my dad built in Derbyshire St, Mount Waverley.”
Songs from the band’s latest albums, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen, both produced by Rick Rubin, who oversaw the band’s 1991 opus Blood Sugar Sex Magik, got a decent workout.
In fact, new songs like Black Summer, Tippa My Tongue and Fake As F--- sat comfortably alongside classics Suck My Kiss and Californication.
They landed the killer blow with the encore, performing Under The Bridge, their biggest hit in Australia, and which has rarely been played on their 2022-23 world tour.
Give It Away closed the set.
Much has been written about song selection on this tour.
But the Chili Peppers’ choices (curated picks for different cities, and varying set lists from night to night), and muscular musicianship, prove they still want to be challenged, and surprised, even after 40 years.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Post Malone play their second and final show at Marvel Stadium on Thursday.
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