Last week Wednesday Husbie and I went to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers live at Rexall Stadium. I bought the tickets months ago and was beyond excited! I’ve loved their music for a long time and listened to them constantly throughout my teen years. They remind me of cruising around in my girlfriend’s jeep with the windows rolled down and sunshine on my face during spare periods in high school, music blaring and not a care in the world.
The last time that the RHCP were in Edmonton was in September 2006 – Husbie and I had only been dating for a few months and I was disappointed that I couldn’t get tickets because they sold out too quickly. Husbie did everything he could to try to find/win tickets to no avail. Fast forward 6 years and I was ready with credit card in hand when the clock hit 10am as I waited online…score FLOOR SEATS!
Wednesday last week was a frigid blizzard of a day and Husbie had been up since 4am for a photo shoot day trip to Fort Mac, but that didn’t stop us from getting ready to party! We arrived at Rexall and discovered that floor seats literally meant the floor was full of seats – no mosh pit in sight! Less party, more sitting.
The show opened with the Rebirth Brass Band all the way from New Orleans. They filled the stadium with their boisterous jazz and funk which was enjoyable, but would have been more impressive in an intimate setting. We grabbed a few drinks (which I then ended up spilling all over myself while taking the above picture of Husbie and I) and took our seats. Red Hot Chili Peppers came on stage and the audience exploded with cheers and applause. Everyone was on their feet in seconds and stayed that way for the entire show.
They did not disappoint! The casual jam sessions in between songs and solo battles between Flea and Josh Klinghoffer made me feel as if I had been invited to witness a spontaneous rehearsal, and didn’t at all make the show feel like a rigid run-of-the-mill performance. It didn’t hurt that Flea walked across the stage in a handstand, Chad swung from lighting and Kedis threw himself around stage without a shirt on. The background of the stage was a large screen that displayed an eye-catching mix of live feed and illustrated animations depending on the song. A grouping of larger screens above changed their arrangement throughout the concert and even stretched down accordion style to display a flock of flying birds for Under The Bridge, pretty impressive (slightly reminiscent of U2?)! All in all, best concert I’ve been to in a while and a great evening out with the Husbie!
//all photos using my iPhone 4
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