Red Hot Chili Peppers Brought Their Global Stadium Tour to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas with The Strokes and King Princess - August 6th, 2022
LAS VEGAS, NV - Making their return to Las Vegas after nearly a decade, the 65,000+ in attendance saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers take the stage at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday night.
Opening the show was up-and-coming singer/songwriter King Princess. I had never heard of this group prior to this show, but they are out supporting their latest release Hold On Baby (2022).
They played for about 30 minutes and served as a mellow welcome to the waves of fans that had been making their way into the stadium for 2 hours prior to show time.
Following King Princess, the crowd nearly doubled in size as alternative/garage-rock heroes The Strokes took the stage. Admittedly, I’ve never been a huge fan of this band.
During the mid-2000's rise of “The” bands (The White Stripes, The Hives, The Vines, etc.) I saw myself becoming more invested in heavier music. One thing I’ve always been told is that this band is heavily influenced by Lou Reed and that they put on a great live show.
I can’t say that I was impressed. The sound wasn’t great for their set, which was odd because King Princess and the Red Hot Chili Peppers sounded amazing considering the size of the venue. The lighting for The Strokes was very dark and most of the band was drowned in red light for the whole set.
The band ripped through an hour set featuring “Last Nite”, “Someday” and Guitar Hero III track “Reptilia”. Front man Julian Casablancas was his usual arrogant self, and he spent the entire set moping around the stage and making cheeky comments.
I understand that this band is huge, and they could very well headline their own tours at massive venues. But when you’re a supporting act, it’s your duty to get the crowd hyped up for the headlining act.
Besides all the technical issues, what turned me off the most was the fact that Casablancas openly referenced the wrong opening band multiple times. He mentioned Thundercat, who had opened previous shows on the tour instead of King Princess.
Thankfully, the changeover times between sets were quick, and we saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers take the stage at 8:45pm.
The band opened the show with an improvised jam session which led into “Can’t Stop”. The crowd was full of energy from the very start as their voices nearly drowned out singer Anthony Kiedis.
The hits kept coming as they wasted no time getting into crowd favorite “Dani California.”
From what I could see, the entire stage was a giant LED screen, which gave the show a very psychedelic feel.
The middle of the set would see performances of a few new tracks, along with the debut of “Blood Sugar Sex Magik.”
Personally, I feel that other dates on the tour had better setlists. But, the set was capped off with hit after hit featuring “Otherside,” “Californication”, “Give It Away” and “By The Way.”
Stadium shows like this are always hit or miss, due to the sheer size of the event.
There were lines everywhere, security and vendors were disorganized, parking was $50, I walked nearly 10,000 steps and had to deal with a nearly 10-foot-tall stage while in the photo pit.
However, this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The band played for 2 hours and looked happier than ever. Having John Frusciante back in the band has led them to sounding as good as they did nearly 40 years ago when they got their start.
“Can’t stop, addicted to the shindig.”