Red Hot Chili Peppers, O2 Arena, London, review: The new music just isn't as good as the older stuff

Anthony Kiedis and co jumped around on stage like long lost friends before launching into a multitude of hits including ‘Snow (Hey Oh)’ and ‘Scar Tissue’ set against a visual spectacle

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis performing on stage at the O2 in London (Neil Lupin/neillupin.com)

So I have three main observations from watching Red Hot Chili Peppers play at the O2 Arena last night; the first being the O2 can put on a visual spectacle, the second being that the Chili Peppers are still the Chili Peppers and thirdly, maybe somewhat controversially, the new music just isn’t as good as the older stuff.

To be clear, Anthony Kiedis and co are still incredible performers, that hasn’t changed throughout the years, they may have cleaned up and collectively gone straight edge but this hasn’t deterred from their passion for performance and the energy they bring to the stage.

Flea is still an enigma, as captivating to watch as he’s always been – at no point was this more evident than when he decided to walk across the stage on his hands. Chad Smith is an incredible drummer that effortlessly entwines his off-the-wall personality with his raw musical ability. Josh Klinghoffer is almost a carbon copy of John Frusciante, no easy feat considering he was able to replicate one of the greatest guitarists in the past 20 years chord for chord. Finally, Kiedis is just one of the better frontmen in modern-day rock – yes, he did inevitably shed his clothing halfway through the performance.

Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers also walked across the stage on his hands during the show (Neil Lupin/neillupin.com) (Neil Lupin / neillupin.com)

The six-time Grammy Award winners started the night doing what they do best, jumping around on stage in a way reminiscent to that of old school friends just having a good time, before delving straight into ‘Around The World’ from Californication followed by hits “Snow (Hey Oh)” and “Scar Tissue”.

Alluding to the impressive light show the O2 had put on to accompany the gig, Kiedis spouted: “Go on, light s**t up” before saying his hellos to the sell out crowd to enthused applause, jumping into “Dark Necessities” from the new album The Getaway.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers worked the stage like professionals while performing at the O2 (Neil Lupin/neillupin.com) (Neil Lupin / neillupin.com)

Tracks old and new followed including “Hey”, “Look Around” and “Parallel Universe” to impressive visual backdrops spliced with anecdotal comments and ramblings by Flea and co. However, it was the performance of “Aeroplane” that really got the crowd moving again, a song seldom performed live from the ill-fated Dave Navarro era was a welcome reminder of the Chilis impressive back catalogue.

Long time favourites “Suck My Kiss” and “By The Way” continued the party atmosphere within the arena (there are an insane amount of Chili’s fans out there) before an encore consisting of “Dreams of a Samurai”, another track from the new album, and “Give it Away” sent the crowd home happy they’d seen the Chili Peppers, but slightly aggrieved anthems such as “Under The Bridge” were missing, a problem that is more apparent when a band has such a rich archive of music.