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Red Hot! Dispatches from the concert of the year
Gargoyle assistant editor
Posted Tuesday, March 13, 2007, The OG, arts & features
SATURDAY NIGHT IS off to a bad start. The group, composed of juniors Ruthie Welch, Jessica Stark, Erin Hayes, and me, is running late.
We were all supposed to meet at Ruthie's, but we don't know where Erin is, and Ruthie and Jessica still have to eat dinner.
John Fruscuante of RHCP plays
in Milwaukee three days before
coming to Assembly Hall. (photo
by Phil Bonyata, permission from
concertlivewire.com)
We happen to be getting ready for the concert of the year: the March 3 Assembly Hall show featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gnarls Barkley.
Erin finally arrives at 7 p.m. (the concert starts at 7:30); right about the time we realize that Jessica has forgotten her ticket.
Anxious and hurried, Ruthie, Jessica, and I leave Erin at Ruthie's to put on makeup and do her hair while we drive Jessica to her house to pick up her ticket.
“Ruth, under no circumstances are you to speed tonight,” says her father.
“Yes, Daddy,” answers Ruthie, ever the perfect child.
We get into her car and pull out of the driveway.
“Are you really not going to speed?” I asked.
“What do you think,” she responds.
I am not at liberty to tell you what speed we actually went in our attempt to get to Jessica's and then the Assembly Hall on time.
We listen to Red hot Chili Peppers on the way to get ready for the concert.
We arrive at Jessica's house and she jumps out of the car and sprints into her house, a comical yet amazing feat seeing as she is wearing three-inch heels.
Eventually, we find ourselves at the Assembly Hall. Ruthie frantically and quite humorously searches for a parking space while simultaneously yelling at the pedestrians walking in front of her car.
Finally, we park. It is 7:25, and knowing that concerts hardly ever start on time, the three of us exhale. Jessica calls Erin on her cell phone to let her know that she should meet us at our seats.
We hop out of the car. All the excitement that we have been feeling for the past couple hours grows even more and manifests itself in little shrieks.
“We have to beat the crowd,” I yell, upon seeing a large line forming at the door to the Assembly Hall. I sprint off, quite content in my tennis shoes.
Ruthie and Jessica, in their less practical shoes and outfits, have a harder time.
“Never do that again,” huffs Jessica when she finally reaches the line like five hours later.
We wait, and wait, and wait some more (I have a short attention span and little patience for lines). When we get to the front, we see a guy whose ticket won't scan. The people working the door won't let him in.
“[Expletive], what if our tickets don't work,” I exclaimed. Of all the worries I had previously had, this one had never occurred to me.
Luckily our tickets did work, so after a quick and ineffectual bag search that would probably had yielded nothing even if I had been carrying firearms, we were able to enter the concert.
The Assembly Hall is packed. Huge lines form to buy concert T-shirts, and people mill around outside the stadium. We don't go for all of that nonsense and instead head right for our seats.
I knew from the beginning that we had decent seats but nothing had readied me for the amazing view we ended up having. Front and center, B section; we could see everything.
We settle down and survey the scene. The hall is still filling, but already there is excitement and marijuana smoke in the air.
All of a sudden, the lights dim. Gnarls Barkley is coming. But, much to our surprise and chagrin, no one stands up. In fact, people stayed sitting down the whole time.
Admittedly, I don't listen that much to Gnarls Barkley, but I could appreciate their excitement, intensity, and musical talent.
Erin arrives about halfway through the Gnarls Barkley act and, outraged to see us sitting down, convinces us to try to stand up. But, when we do, the people behind us say we're blocking their view and ask us to sit down.
Our excitement severely reduced, we reluctantly sit down.
Finally, Gnarls plays their hit, “Crazy.” Now, if anyone thinks that I am going to stay sitting down during a live performance of “Crazy,” they are sorely mistaken. All four of us stand up, dance, and belt out the song that we knew way too well.
“We got a message from backstage, it's from the Red Hot Chili Peppers,” says Gnarls lead singer Cee-Lo. Everyone cheers. “No, it's not good news. The Red Hot Chili Peppers say they won't come out here until you make some [expletive] noise.”
Of course, we all oblige.
One more song and Gnarls Barkley are done. Though extremely happy to be there, I am less than impressed, mostly with the audience. I am still hopeful, though, and swear to myself that an unenthusiastic audience will not ruin my life.
Ruthie and I leave during the break between Gnarls and RHCP to go to the bathroom. The line for the women's restroom is out the door and 30-minutes long. We make it to the front and are finally able to relieve our bladders.
While in line, we see Shara Esbenshade. Ruthie and I invite her to sit with us, assuming that she will prefer our seats to her C-section tickets. She obliges and we return to the stadium together.
When we get to our seats, we see that Jessica and Erin have run into former Uni student Jimmy Huggett. We all talk for a little, and eventually Jimmy leaves and we all sit down.
It is an insanely long wait for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. We wait amongst shouts of “RHCP” and “We want Flea.” We also engage in about four “slow claps,” timed clapping that starts slow and gets faster until you break out into yelling and stomping.
Still, the Red Hot Chili Peppers won't obey our commands.
Finally, the lights dim. Drummer Chad Smith, bassist Flea, and guitarist John Frusciante come out on stage and start jamming.
Then, he, Anthony Kiedis, comes out. He is in a black vest with a white beater underneath. He also has these sleeves, basically leg warmers for your arms, that he pulls off with great flare. Basically, he looks really good.
The band opens with “Can't Stop,” a classic. Immediately we all know that this will be awesome. First of all, the whole audience is on their feet, screaming and singing along.
Second of all, the stage is amazing. The band members have a screen behind them, flashing lights and images. Then, on top of that screen, four smaller screens are projected that display members of the band close up, playing and singing. The lights are equally amazing. If this set was the reason that RHCP took so long to get out here, then it was well worth the wait.
After “Can't Stop,” the band goes straight into “Dani California.” The intensity, the fun, the amazing atmosphere — it is all a little hard to articulate.
Kiedis hops around the stage, dancing in a way that only he can. Flea plays amazingly and early on takes his shirt off, which greatly improves the quality of his performance, at least in the eyes of the female audience members.
A few songs later, they play “Scar Tissue,” one of my favorites. Ruthie and I share a special moment during the best lyric of all time, “Push me up against the wall.”
I will admit that I am a mainstream Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, so during the concert I am happiest when they play their biggest hits. High points of the night for me are “Snow (Hey Oh),” “Californication,” a “By the Way” finale, and a “Give It Away” encore.
I also enjoy the projection of a particularly cool sea monster/dragon flying through space that was played during one of the songs.
And even though I don't know all of the songs, the appeal of the band, the infectious energy, and the universal awesomeness of everything that they play keeps me entertained and ecstatic.
The night ends, and I am possibly the happiest I have ever been. All I can talk or think about is the concert.
Since that night, I have had an almost unhealthy obsession with Kiedis (you can read my blog entry for more about that), and RHCP songs play through my head at random times.
I think of the concert as one of those defining childhood memories; one of those events that stays with you forever, that everyone has to experience. It was definitely a night that I will never forget.
RELATED
— Gargoyle concert review: Gnarls Barkley, Red Hot Chili Peppers at Assembly Hall
— Concertlivewire.com: Gnarls Barkley & Red Hot Chili Peppers play Milwaukee, Feb. 28, 2007
— MySpace page: Gnarls Barkley
— MySpace page: Red Hot Chili Peppers
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