Thank the heavens for Flea and his Arthurian sword, his wizard’s wand, his medieval battle-ax – a.k.a. his Modulus Signature Series bass guitar complete with Aguilar OBP-1 preamps and Lane Poor pickups.
Just as the yawns were settling in a few months ago during my first listen to “Stadium Arcadium,” the new two-disc set from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I came across an unexpected gem on Disc 2. The first 18 seconds of “Tell Me Baby” were straight this-century Chili Peppers – soft, melodic guitars strummed with the intense self-awareness of someone on camera for the first time.
Yawn. This is why I first fell away from the Chili Peppers, who play the Pepsi Center tonight. They started boring me with their funk-infused adult contemporary, their unique brand of punk that was more John Mayer than John Lydon.
But then came the 19th second – and Flea’s slap-happy growler. The inimitable fingering and ridiculously intricate slaps, beats and thumps spelled the question out quickly:
Is this a return to form?
Listen on and John Frusciante’s simple staccato guitar picking keeps it tight and fresh, and drummer Chad Smith is expectedly on-point. Anthony Kiedis comes in soon, but there’s something in his voice – a glimmer of familiarity from the new “Californication”-era Chili Peppers, but also a healthy dose of the old-school. Kiedis goes into that weird possessed voice, too, and suddenly I’m nodding my head and tapping my heel.
This song is the convergence of old and new that a lot of Chili Peppers fans have been waiting for, I remember thinking. And that mixture has been a holy grail of sorts – for this fan, at least.
The Chili Peppers were a seminal band in my teenage years. I remember my friend Lisa strutting the halls of Westminster High School, her tiny 4-foot-nothing Japanese frame dwarfed by the rattiest “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” tour shirt you can imagine. Their music was different then – of course. It was raw and blood-letting, primal and too risqué for most FM radio outlets.
We supported their evolution, from their early, more straightforward punk days into the more pop-friendly confines of 1989’s “Mother’s Milk” and later 1999’s “Californication.” But the latter was the start of the group’s devolution.
As pretty as “Californication” was – and it was quite lush – it was going too far in the wrong direction. Obviously the band was growing up, but maturing and getting boring don’t have to be the same path.
But three years later came the subdued “By the Way,” the most embarrassing product to ever bear the Chili Peppers’ name and asterisk logo. And listening to the first disc (and most of disc 2) of “Stadium Arcadium” a couple of months ago, I had the sad impression they were sticking to that tired and familiar road, which is paved with gold as “By the Way” debuted at No. 2 and “Stadium Arcadium” debuted at No. 1.
And I was mostly right. The majority of “Stadium Arcadium” is made for FM radio circa 2006. Surprisingly, when it came time to release a second single after the success of “Dani California” (a.k.a. the song that sounds an awful lot like Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”), the band and its label went with “Tell Me Baby,” and it’s killer hearing the track over the airwaves, almost as if it’s a return to the early, Fort Collins days of KTCL and AP classes at Westy High.
But it’s also not that simple. While the majority of the song is a throwback, the chorus is all contemporary. And it’s a juxtaposition that works aesthetically with an absolute resolution and a clear-formed sense of self. I’ll give them the modern rock chorus if they give me that weird Kiedis voice, the one only he can do, the one I haven’t heard for more than a decade.
I finally caught the video for the track, and it’s wacky and bizarre, way similar to the Chili Peppers videos of old. Early on, Flea launches a folding chair at the wall and it just sticks there. Later he stands on a massive speaker stack and sticks his head through ceiling tile, slapping his bass all the while.
And that’s more like it.
Red Hot Chili Peppers play the Pepsi Center at 7:30 tonight with The Mars Volta opening. Tickets, $45-$65, are available via ticketmaster.com or 303-830-8497.
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
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THE MARS VOLTA It’s truly amazing what Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez have accomplished with The Mars Volta since forming five years ago. The music is quality and grandiose, and the message has been spread far and wide. The Mars Volta plays tonight at the Pepsi Center, opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
LOVERBOY The band name says it all, but the hits say it even better. “The Kid Is Hot Tonite.” “Working For the Weekend.” Oh yes … suddenly it all comes rushing back. The ’80s favorite plays tonight at the CityLights Pavilion with Rick Springfield and Scandal.
AL JARREAU The popular singer – who has Grammys in jazz, pop and R&B – will bring his show Sunday to the CityLights Pavilion.
BEN HARPER & THE INNOCENT CRIMINALS The hippies love Ben Harper – but so does anyone who appreciates a heavy groove. Harper and his band will bring it on Tuesday night at Red Rocks.
A SILVER MT. ZION It’s tough to nail down the music of A Silver Mt. Zion, but a good starting point is always Godspeed You Black Emporer! (The groups share members, aesthetics and a homebase.)The band plays Thursday at the Larimer Lounge.
– Ricardo Baca
