joyfulgirl
Blue Crack Addict
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2001
- Messages
- 16,690
OMG, I had a blast. First of all, we were under a tornado watch up until about an hour before the show, which of course was outdoors. Just as we were leaving the hotel for the venue the sky suddenly cleared and the sun came out. We had 10th row center reserved seats which were awesome.
Snoop Dogg opened the show and he was hilarious. He and his entourage were smoking weed onstage and instructing the all-white audience (Colorado is so white it's ridiculous) in a set of call-and-response rap to, among other things, point our middle finger in the air and shout "FUCK the police! FUCK the police!" and then "smoke weed! get drunk! get fucked!". The police just laughed and stood back and watched as the air filled with the scent of weed like I haven't smelled at a concert since the 70s. It was the rowdiest crowd I've ever experienced, with people passing out and getting carried out by police (sometimes in handcuffs) by the dozens. Fortunately, everyone around me was totally cool and just fun (except for the girl behind me who spilled beer on me 30 seconds after I arrived, then began showing her tits and during Snoop's set I saw her being escorted backstage, via the stage, probably to appear in Snoop's next porn flick.
)
Anyway, Snoop was fun but his act is pretty tired and he looked pretty bad. He and the Snoopadelics seriously looked like a bunch of sad old crackheads. But he got us going anyway.
Then the Peppers hit the stage and it was just kind of mind blowing. It probably was not a great show by their standards as the show was plagued with technical difficulties and the band was visibly frustrated throughout the show, but having never seen them before live it was incredible to me. I thought my time would be divided between Anthony and Flea, but it was John Frusciante who stole the show and who I could not take my eyes off. He is the real star of that band. Anthony's mike was not loud enough and he also kept having to go off to the side of the stage between songs for oxygen. I don't know what was up with that--maybe serious allergies or Denver's 5200 ft. altitude that is every performer's nightmare. So while Anthony's mike was too low, John's was way too loud. That man's voice is like something from heaven, something I didn't realize just hearing his background vocals on records. He treated us to solos between songs (the Chantel's "Maybe" and Donna Summers' "I Feel Love") and the man is nothing short of brilliant, something I'd always read about but now I've seen it first hand. I guess people down in the pit were complaining about the sound, and there was a lot of onstage activity in dealing with it, until finally John got pissed and said something like, "Look, all you people yelling at me about the sound, well the PA is spread out all over the place and that's just the way it is and you're just gonna have to try and have a good time anyway." It was great seeing him pissed--I always pictured him as being the fragile, shy, introverted musical genius, but he was tough and really on it, ordering the techs around and being the leader in a crisis. I was definitely impressed. Plus he's got that whole Jesus look going on these days.
Anthony was a disappointment. He made no attempt to connect with the audience. I guess that's just his style, though. He sings with his eyes closed and jumps around and doesn't even look at the audience and I guess that's what's he's been doing for 20 years. Very nice on the eyes, though.
Flea's hair is starting to look like Harpo Marx's.
I wish I could post a setlist but I didn't write it down, I can't find one online, and I just don't know the names of a lot of the early stuff they did. Someone here had said that at MSG they did mostly songs from the last 2 records. But in Denver they did a fair amount spanning their whole career. Californication was conspicuously absent
But it was really cool hearing 12,000 people singing the choir part at the end of Under the Bridge.
Another highlight was Can't Stop, one of my favorite songs from By the Way. John's intro was electrifying, punctuated by a streak of lightening and a brief rainshower that was enough to add atmosphere without being a drag. It was awesome! Venice Queen was a surprise and unbelievable live.
Their set was too short but they gave it everything they had in an hour and 45 mins. I do not know how they do it every night, night after night. If you ever get the chance, definitely go see them. Don't let the rowdy crowd scare you away.
Snoop Dogg opened the show and he was hilarious. He and his entourage were smoking weed onstage and instructing the all-white audience (Colorado is so white it's ridiculous) in a set of call-and-response rap to, among other things, point our middle finger in the air and shout "FUCK the police! FUCK the police!" and then "smoke weed! get drunk! get fucked!". The police just laughed and stood back and watched as the air filled with the scent of weed like I haven't smelled at a concert since the 70s. It was the rowdiest crowd I've ever experienced, with people passing out and getting carried out by police (sometimes in handcuffs) by the dozens. Fortunately, everyone around me was totally cool and just fun (except for the girl behind me who spilled beer on me 30 seconds after I arrived, then began showing her tits and during Snoop's set I saw her being escorted backstage, via the stage, probably to appear in Snoop's next porn flick.
)Anyway, Snoop was fun but his act is pretty tired and he looked pretty bad. He and the Snoopadelics seriously looked like a bunch of sad old crackheads. But he got us going anyway.
Then the Peppers hit the stage and it was just kind of mind blowing. It probably was not a great show by their standards as the show was plagued with technical difficulties and the band was visibly frustrated throughout the show, but having never seen them before live it was incredible to me. I thought my time would be divided between Anthony and Flea, but it was John Frusciante who stole the show and who I could not take my eyes off. He is the real star of that band. Anthony's mike was not loud enough and he also kept having to go off to the side of the stage between songs for oxygen. I don't know what was up with that--maybe serious allergies or Denver's 5200 ft. altitude that is every performer's nightmare. So while Anthony's mike was too low, John's was way too loud. That man's voice is like something from heaven, something I didn't realize just hearing his background vocals on records. He treated us to solos between songs (the Chantel's "Maybe" and Donna Summers' "I Feel Love") and the man is nothing short of brilliant, something I'd always read about but now I've seen it first hand. I guess people down in the pit were complaining about the sound, and there was a lot of onstage activity in dealing with it, until finally John got pissed and said something like, "Look, all you people yelling at me about the sound, well the PA is spread out all over the place and that's just the way it is and you're just gonna have to try and have a good time anyway." It was great seeing him pissed--I always pictured him as being the fragile, shy, introverted musical genius, but he was tough and really on it, ordering the techs around and being the leader in a crisis. I was definitely impressed. Plus he's got that whole Jesus look going on these days.
Anthony was a disappointment. He made no attempt to connect with the audience. I guess that's just his style, though. He sings with his eyes closed and jumps around and doesn't even look at the audience and I guess that's what's he's been doing for 20 years. Very nice on the eyes, though.
Flea's hair is starting to look like Harpo Marx's. I wish I could post a setlist but I didn't write it down, I can't find one online, and I just don't know the names of a lot of the early stuff they did. Someone here had said that at MSG they did mostly songs from the last 2 records. But in Denver they did a fair amount spanning their whole career. Californication was conspicuously absent
But it was really cool hearing 12,000 people singing the choir part at the end of Under the Bridge.Another highlight was Can't Stop, one of my favorite songs from By the Way. John's intro was electrifying, punctuated by a streak of lightening and a brief rainshower that was enough to add atmosphere without being a drag. It was awesome! Venice Queen was a surprise and unbelievable live.
Their set was too short but they gave it everything they had in an hour and 45 mins. I do not know how they do it every night, night after night. If you ever get the chance, definitely go see them. Don't let the rowdy crowd scare you away.
