Red Hot Chili Peppers / Toadies / Spacehog

Date:

Monday, March 11, 1996

Venue:

Market Square Arena

Location:

Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Notes:

Flea makes all the difference for Peppers
MARC D. ALLAN
Indianapolis Star
12 Mar 1996

Red Hot Chili Peppers
3 stars
Opening acts: Toadies, Spacehog.
When: Monday.
Where: Market Square Arena.
Star ratings: 4 excellent, 3 good, 2 fair, 1 poor.

"Where's Reggie Miller?" the Red Hot Chili Peppers wanted to know Monday night as they caromed around the Market Square Arena stage.

The Indiana Pacers' guard might not have been present, but he would have recognized the teamwork - and lack thereof - that went into the Peppers' sometimes thrilling, occasionally sloppy performance for about 9,500 fans.

No. 31 would have seen himself in Flea, the Chili Peppers' bassist, who made everything look like the fourth quarter of 1994's Game 5 against the Knicks. Flea was the dominant force throughout the 90-minute performance, pumping out crushing grooves and massive beats.

No one in the band could keep up with Flea - nor could they contain him. During the raw funk-punk of Backwoods, guitarist Dave Navarro's leads, so distant, airy and rapid, were no match for Flea's deep bass.

The tougher the song - the chaotic Higher Ground, the frenzied Higher Ground, the raw version of Coffee Shop - the more Flea controlled the tempo. Even Aeroplane, which on the band's current disc, One Hot Minute, balances the interplay between the guitar and bass, found him keeping the rhythm and running wild with bass fills.

Flea's biggest help came from drummer Chad Smith, who maintained the pace and groove solidly. But Navarro didn't offer much. The band's new guitarist was best the few times the songs were slow; his clipped riffs gave Walkabout a '70s funk feel.

Singer Anthony Kiedis, meanwhile, had a terrible night. Although he bounded around the stage as well as anyone, his mush-mouthed vocals and mumbled raps got lost in the arena.

Kiedis turned out to be the fifth- best singer on the stage. Coffee Shop was intelligible only because the two backup vocalists sang clearly. Navarro ended My Friends with a surprisingly good Lou Reed imitation. And Flea offered both a stylish version of Pea and a shockingly calm verse of the Sex Pistols' Anarchy in the U.K.

The opening acts made the evening complete. Toadies' 45-minute middle set (three and a 1/2 stars) combined the jackhammer precision of Metallica with the raw, angry simplicity of Nirvana.

Ironically, the band sounded much better in an arena setting - where its music filled the room - than it did a few months ago at Union Station. Todd Lewis and company certainly seemed more confident on Monday, even ending the set with a slow, dirty blues version of I Come From the Water.

The British group Spacehog (three stars) opened with 30 minutes of shiny, noisy pop mostly derived from mid-'70s David Bowie, Mott the Hoople and T. Rex. The quartet's cheerful demeanor and signature song, Spacehog, which appeared to parody Bowie's Space Oddity, pointed to a band with a total lack of pretense. (Could this be the anti-Oasis?)

Copyright 1996 - Indianapolis Star - All Rights Reverved
Pollstar concert listing

Alternative Rock	3 bands
Alternative Rock: Red Hot Chili Peppers Toadies Spacehog
Pop Rock	3 bands
Pop Rock: Red Hot Chili Peppers Toadies Spacehog
Rock	3 bands
Rock: Red Hot Chili Peppers Toadies Spacehog
Alternative	3 bands
Alternative: Red Hot Chili Peppers Toadies Spacehog
Post-Grunge	2 bands
Post-Grunge: Toadies Spacehog
Alternative Metal	1 band
Alternative Metal: Toadies
Britpop	1 band
Britpop: Spacehog
Dance-Pop	1 band
Dance-Pop: Spacehog
Funk	1 band
Funk: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Funk Metal	1 band
Funk Metal: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Funk Rock	1 band
Funk Rock: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Glam Rock	1 band
Glam Rock: Spacehog
Grunge	1 band
Grunge: Toadies
Heavy Metal	1 band
Heavy Metal: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Indie Rock	1 band
Indie Rock: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Nu Metal	1 band
Nu Metal: Toadies
Pop	1 band
Pop: Spacehog
Psychedelic Rock	1 band
Psychedelic Rock: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rap Rock	1 band
Rap Rock: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Permanent Wave	1 band
Permanent Wave: Red Hot Chili Peppers

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Seen By:

Michael Curtis
A Roto
Jake I
Matt Ogden
Brian Clark