Mike Weed:
before the show started I had to use my cell phone so we were down in the stairway & guess who walks in - Flea & John - I directed Flea & John as to where to go & they ran like bandits. After the show Flea & John both thanked me when we met the ENTIRE BAND!!!!!!YES THAT'S RIGHT !!!!!. I picked out Louie (long-time RHCP stagehand) from a mile away & told him that we were here from the fan club & how we had to get tickets so after the show Lori, Rachel, Kathleen & myself were escorted upstairs to meet Anthony, Flea, John & Chad. I had good conversation with all of them. John looks very well indeed & they sounded terrific. They played a lot of cuts off BSSM & some old cuts off the first RHCP album ever released ,they also did "Soul To Squeeze".........I have pictures of John with Lori & Rachel. I think you're are going to be real pleased when you get these pic's. Anthony I gave a hug to & we chatted a little. Flea & I started talking about several projects (the Janes show) we both were like beautiful. By 1:30 Lori & Rachel were dragging me away from Chad who I was having a full conversation with about all sorts of crazy shit!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF IT WAS NOT FOR ME SEEING LOUIE & LETTING HIM KNOW WE WERE WITH THE FAN CLUB WE WOULD OF NEVER BEEN UP IN THEIR PRIVATE AREA AFTER THE SHOW. Louie even thanked me for being real cool & taking no pictures up there which has always been my motto when after show stuff goes on. As we were leaving I flagged 2 cabs down, 1 for Rachel & 1 for Lori, Kathleen & myself. Louie ran up to me & asked if he could have the cabs for the boys my answer was obviously YES!!!!! I asked Anthony to also send Blackie our regards & mention that we were hanging with the Boy's!!!!!!!!!! Yes the fan club met & hung out with the band. They all looked great & sounded well. I gave John several handshakes. Told him to stay well & welcome back. -- Mikie Weed was able to get them up close & thanks to Louie we were hanging out with the band for about 1/2 hour to 1 hour Very Cool!!!!!!!!
Rachel Bayne:
The show was fantastic. The guys were real high energy. It was kind of a short show but that's okay. Talking to the guys was amazing. They all looked so great. John was really nice and we took a picture with him. The show ROCKED!
chegue07@aol.com:
To say the least, the show was incredible. Anthony followed by Flea and John nonchalantly strolled past the eager line of fans right into the front door, as if they were some small time act. As for the show itself, it was short and if you did not have a ticket, hard as fuck to get into but it was incredible. The set was relatively tight, opening with "Love Trilogy" smoothly flowing into "Black Eyed Blonde" and of course tearing the tiny little club apart with "Give it Away". Jonnie played very well and for the first time from what I hear is a long time he was smiling and looked like a little kid when he eagerly whispered into the ears of Anthony and Flea to play the jam "Freaky Styley" then lead the band soon after tightly into "I could have lied" off of BSSM. The crowd was great too, all fans, no assholes and of course no Navarro, the disease that almost completely killed the Peppers. The cool thing though was, with the exception of Mother's Milk and One Hot Sellout, they played drips and drabs from every album including their first and I believe I heard some new stuff as well, actually I am almost positive. Basically though they were the same old Peppers again, a trait they lacked for nearly 6 years.
Carmine N. Tiso:
On Tuesday, June 16 the Red Hot Chili Peppers played an intimate show in front of almost 500 lucky fans. New York's Bowery Ballroom was the site for the show which featured the reunited Chili Peppers featuring John Frusciante. The show was the Chili Peppers' first show in the New York area since the "One Hot Minute" tour in February of 1996. Unlike the shows at Madison Square Garden and Long Island's Nassau Coliseum, when the Chili Peppers arrived at the Bowery Ballroom, they brought the funk with them.
When the Chili Peppers took to the stage at 11:15 PM, the small crowd roared especially when John Frusciante appeared. One benefit that the band has with Frusciante manning the guitar is his extensive knowledge of the Chili Peppers' catalog of songs. They opened their set with "The Love Trilogy" from the Uplift Mofo Party Plan. They went on to play several songs from "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" like "If you have to ask", "I could have lied" and "Power of Equality". While all were received with cheers and applause, "Give it away" had everyone in the room jumping up and down like Flea's head.
The band looked like a family reunited. Frusciante, wearing a see-through black shirt and hair that covered his eyes in front and reached his shoulders in the back, looked like he never left the band for a moment. Anthony Kiedis, bare chested in a shirt that covered both arms and his upper back, was jumping and head-banging all over stage as Frusciante reinserted the funk in the Peppers' music that Dave Navarro replaced with rock.
One nice moment was when Frusciante led the band in "Soul to Squeeze" from the "Cone Heads" movie soundtrack, a song that Frusciante was not even in the video for after his departure in 1992. The band played several little jam interludes that could possibly be new material in the works, but until a new album we won't know.
Flea, wearing only shorts with his head missing sections of hair that appeared to be shaved at random, was jumping and throwing his head around as fast and as hard as he hit the strings of his bass. At on point he spoke to the crowed and said "After the show I'm going to go out and get a nice piece of.......pizza!".
After one jam early in the show, Anthony said "That song was called "Ass Killer" with a serious tone. He then said "In fact every song we play tonight is called "Ass Killer". Later in the show when flea asked Anthony what he wanted to play, Anthony replied with "I know, lets play "Ass Killer!".
Chad Smith, the behemoth behind the drums, of course kept the beats hard and fast and kept everyone in the club jumping and dancing. The Band only played a 45 minute set, which ended with their cover of Iggy and the Stooges' "Search and Destroy". Though the show was short and everyone inside wished the could have played for hours longer, to see a huge act like the Red Hot Chili Peppers in a crowed of less than 500 was as special as the band's performance.
Strangely, it was only Chad who alluded to Frusciante's return as the band walked out for it's encore, Smith walked behind Frusciante on the way to his kit and turned to the crowed and pointed with both hands at John saying without words "How about this guy, huh?". It was the only moment that made the show feel unique because of Frusciante's return, because otherwise it seemed like he never left, Which made the show special to begin with.
