Red Hot Chili Peppers play at Verizon Arena Thursday.

  • Red Hot Chili Peppers play at Verizon Arena Thursday.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
8 p.m. Verizon Arena. $38-$58.

Advertisement

The Red Hot Chili Peppers weren’t the first outfit to mix the free-floating fury and distorted guitars of punk with the slap-bass thumping and sweaty grooves of funk (see Exhibit A: Gang of Four). But without question, they’re the biggest-selling and most popular group ever to cross those particular streams.

I was introduced to the Chili Peppers hit by Mike, my old junior high chum who was always one step ahead of everyone else. He had a cassette of “Mothers’ Milk” that we listened to at his house. It wasn’t speed metal or thrash metal or death metal, so I pretty much ignored it. But shortly thereafter, “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” came out and before you could say “Give-it-away-now,” it had become the inescapable party soundtrack for all the cool kids.

Advertisement

That was more than two decades ago, and back then I’d never have imagined that the Chili Peppers would still be going all the way in 2012 (Is that really even going to be a year? Won’t we all just have jetpacks and flying cars by then?). They just seemed so combustible, with their wacky costumes and their drug problems and their outsized personalities and their generally libidinous, freaky-styley ways.

They had their challenges and setbacks, sure. But here it is, 2012, and here they are, not only survivors, but respected elder statesmen of the rock landscape.

Advertisement

Opening the show is session badass, avant-pop/funk bassist and Flying Lotus collaborator Stephen Bruner, a.k.a. Thundercat.

Be a part of something bigger

As a reader of the Arkansas Times, you know we’re dedicated to bringing you tough, determined, and feisty journalism that holds the powerful accountable. For 50 years, we've been fighting the good fight in Little Rock and beyond – with your support, we can do even more. By becoming a subscriber or donating as little as $1 to our efforts, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers to expand our coverage and continue to bring important stories to light. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, it's clear that our readers value our great journalism. Join us in the fight for truth.

Previous article The dish on Leah Greenfield’s “Pie in the Sky” Next article Food company to add 300 jobs in Independence County, home of Charlie Fuqua