Red Hot Chili Peppers Perform to Perfection in Detroit

This line from Stadium Arcadium's "C'mon Girl," definitely summed it up.

Hailing from Los Angeles California, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, who are currently on tour supporting their 2006 full-length release Stadium Arcadium, played a sold-out show at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan on Friday, November 3.

RHCP had the entire 16,000 plus crowd on their feet for the entirety of their set, which included a great combination of their classic hits, and newer tracks appearing on Stadium Arcadium.

Amidst a constant neon-light-filled video montage, the slap-bass style beats of Michael Balzary, better known as Flea, and the powerful drumming of Chad Smith would have been the highlight of the show for me, if not for the awe-inspiring lead guitar performances by John Frusciante.

Reminiscent of the lead guitar in Led Zeppelin, Frusciante displayed Jimmy Paige-like solos throughout many of the songs, extending them expertly into live masterpieces.

RHCP's musical diversity and ability to perfect different sounds was evident in the funk-inspired "Charlie" and to the almost heavy-metal rendition of "Ready made." Both songs, which appear on Stadium Arcadium, created a buzz in the arena more so than the performances of popular singles "Dani California" and "Tell me baby".

While performing former number one hits, "By the way", "Californication", and "Scar Tissue", lead singer Anthony Kiedis' vocals, which were very solid throughout the show, were nearly drowned out by the crowd, who were all singing along to the well-known tracks.

RHCP's encore sits at the top in terms of concert encores that I have witnessed. Surpassing concerts by Green Day, Foo Fighters, the Counting Crows, Neil Young, System of a Down, and The Tragically Hip, the Chili Peppers capped their energetic performance off beautifully.

After entertaining the crowd with a unique spot light display, RHCP came back on stage. Starting with an impressive drum-solo by Smith, they followed with performances of "Under The Bridge" and "Give It Away", extending the latter with ingenious solo displays by Flea and Frusciante.

With the back of my seat literally against the back wall of the Palace, my nosebleed seats were surprisingly very pleasant. I was not crowded at all, and could enjoy the great acoustics and sound of the band from a very enjoyable view.

The band has overcome much turmoil over its existence including; drug addictions, alcohol abuse, changing band members, and even the death of former lead guitarist Hillel Slovak in 1988.

Despite the bands roller coaster past they continued to produce high-quality albums throughout their career, and have in 2006 produced arguably their greatest accomplishment to date with Stadium Arcadium.

If ever given the chance to see RHCP live, I highly, highly, recommend that you take advantage of it. You will not be disappointed.