RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - READING FESTIVAL, SATURDAY AUGUST 25, 2007 - Rating: 4 stars

Before getting on to the headline act and my main reason for going to Reading Festival this Saturday, a bit of the all-day run-up to their performance.....

We made it to the Reading Festival arena around noon, and to the front barriers at the main stage just as Paramore had started their set. I'd never heard of them before, but my gosh does that woman have a voice! 4 stars.

The band that followed, The Dead 60s, were OK-ish, I felt every song they started sounded great, but two minutes into every song I got bored with it. 2 stars.

Next on the bill were the Eagles Of Death Metal - very Spinal Tap - very entertaining. 3 stars.

After that, The Shins; they were definitely good, but I just didn't like their stuff. 2 stars.

Next up, Angels And Airwaves, who received both a happy reception and a barrage of bottles from the crowd; personally I didn't get what that Blink-182-dude was trying to get at - ego trip? wanna-Bono? attitude? descend? parody of himself? - and was glad when the set was over. 1 star.

Then, Panic! At The Disco, who received a mix of enthusiasm, sing-along and bottles from the crowd. I'd never heard any of their stuff before, but they kept me entertained. 3 stars.

Six and a half hours into this festival, my feet were already numb, my skin getting sunburnt, and the crowd was getting more and more crushing, and I was about to be served with a band that I've never really liked, Bloc Party. But I was very impressed with their performance and the well-deserved all-positive crowd response. 4 stars, and a fabulous quote from a hysteric female Bloc Party fan behind me (about singer Kele Okereke): "I am sorry. I know he's gay, but I love him so much!"

On to Arcade Fire, a band I was looking forward to seeing, and I was positively blown away by their performance. Absolutely amazing, nothing more to say. 5 stars.

9.5 hours gone, despite all the pushing and crushing I had survived standing against that front barrier all that time, waiting for my favourite band, even though every part of my body hurt except for my feet which I could not feel anymore. My persistence was rewarded with a fabulous two-hour set of Red Hot Chili Peppers heaven, and I won't be put off that opinion by anyone wanting to express themselves negatively about it.

So not everything was 100% perfect and seamless, like could be expected at a U2 gig, but to me that's part of the Red Hot Chili Peppers charm and attraction, that nothing appears over-rehearsed and 'choreographed', it's one of the things I love them for. They had a tough act to follow (as said, Arcade Fire had been amazing) and they did not disappoint.

The band had a bit of a false start, after the opening jam going into Can't Stop, when an enthusiastically dancing and jumping Anthony Kiedis accidentally bounced onto John Frusciante's panel of pedals causing a loud buzzing noise, a moment of shock horror for me thinking that might well be the end of their performance, but I should have known better - that these guys are professionals and won't be put out that easily - and I apologise for my lack of trust there and then. While the crowd were holding their breaths, Chad Smith and Flea improvised to prevent total silence, Anthony Kiedis spoke apologetically ("...I just bounced...") with an innocent-boy-ish "if-anyone-gives-me-a-dirty-look-I-am-going-to-burst-into-tears"-look on his face, John Frusciante looked over to his guitar tech as if to say "help me, please". The guitar tech walked on, straight over to the pedals, and within seconds: problem solved.

Can't Stop, Take 2. The band re-started the song, though it appeared each band member at a different stage of the song. So they tried again.

Can't Stop, Take 3. The band re-started the song again, this time all at the same point, initiated by Frusciante. They got on with the song as if nothing ever happened, and then, this time with Kiedis nowhere near Frusciante's pedals, the noise was back. Frusciante dived onto his panel of pedals, frantically touching the switches on it, and within seconds the issue was resolved again.

Can't Stop, Take 4. The band continued and finished the song as if nothing had ever happened, proving to the crowd that nothing was going to deter them from serving up a good show, in some way giving a whole new (positive) meaning to that song title.

After this messy opening, a varied setlist followed, containing a fine collection of hits to serve any non-RHCP-fan festival crowd, mixed in with an eclectic mix of album tracks, most of which sounded a hell of a lot better live than their studio versions, re-affirming that the Red Hot Chili Peppers need to be seen/heard live to be appreciated and one of few rock acts in the world that is always better 'live on stage' than 'recorded in a studio'. Personally, I love a setlist that excludes Under The Bridge; I mean, it's a great song, but so damn overplayed. Wet Sand was a treat, that song always seems to make me want to cry for its beauty. No pre-BSSM songs on tonight's set list, disappointing yes, but judging by past audience rapport (or lack thereof) whenever they did play older songs during their gigs, no surprise, and no hard feelings. Overall a great set list to serve both 'generic' audience members and die-hard fans.

As said, not everything about this performance was perfect, at times Chad Smith did seem unable to entirely 'hold it together' (Scar Tissue) yet always recovering within seconds, and at times Anthony Kiedis did appear to somewhat mess up his lyrics (Snow), but that's nothing new and to me imperfection, recovery and improvisation are strengths rather than weaknesses of a rock band. If you want perfectly played, perfectly mixed, go listen to a studio album; if you insist on perfection live, don't object to over-inflated ticket prices and go see U2 or Dire Straits.

Anthony Kiedis was on top form tonight. His vocals were strong and on key (better than I'd ever heard before live), and he seemed to have no trouble hitting any of the high notes either. His stage presence was exuberant, showing no signs whatsoever of 'tiredness','illness' or 'unhappiness' as suggested so often in the past year and a half. Too exuberant perhaps, when accidentally bouncing on John's pedals at the start, and later on during the end of Wet Sand, when he fell over, taking part of Chad Smith's drum kit down with him. He seem to fall pretty flat and hard, causing me to have another shock horror moment of thinking this performance might end prematurely, but he swiftly got up and with an apologetic smile started putting back everything he had knocked over, finishing off with a comical dabbing and polishing of the area in front of the drums. During C'Mon Girl his exuberance seemed to get the better of him yet again, as he barely managed to regain his balance after another spin (otherwise he would have fallen over again, this time taking out band mate Flea).

He took the time to express his admiration of Arcade Fire, to introduce guest guitarist Josh Klinghoffer to the audience, and to thank the audience. Kiedis is a top class front man, though never entirely taking centre stage, and as such giving enough of the limelight to his fellow band members, and I admire him for that. He left the stage giving the female admirers of his looks a little teaser baring the upper half of his body as he walked off stage. I gave him a score of 9/10 (reserving the maximum score for when he ever starts using more of the space on stage available to him to run, dance and jump around and show himself off to the audience).

Chad Smith was his usual self - does that man ever have a bad day? Does he ever do a 'bad' gig? Not by my accounts, ever! I gave him a score 9 out of 10 (reserving the maximum score for the Keith Moons, Ginger Bakers and John Bonhams of this planet).

Flea showed once again that he is one of the best bass guitarists, if not the best, in the world. Standing at the front of the crowd, in front of the stacks of speakers and woofers, it was a great experience to not just hear but to also very much feel his bass playing. I gave him a score of 9 out of 10 (staying one point clear of the maximum score for him somewhat leaving out his funkadelic masterdom).

John Frusciante was his intricate perfectionist self tonight, after recovering from the initial technical glitches becoming one with his guitar and his music, so engrossed with his instrument and playing that at one point he hit himself in the head with his guitar while playing a solo. I gave him a score of 9 out of 10 (reserving the maximum score for when he shows a more loose, less tight, more relaxed, less serious enjoyment of being on stage performing).

With a lead singer bouncing about and falling over, and a guitarist hitting himself in the head with his guitar, I guess that added a fitting slapstick element to a performance of a band known for their dry humourous onstage banter.

I am grateful that the Chili Peppers have always managed to steer cleer of the clichéd "I can't hear you!", "How's everybody at the back?", "Is this side of the audience louder than that side?", "When I say [enter word(s) of choice], you say [enter word(s) of choice]" and the like, or cringeworthy Freddie Mercury style sing-backs (you know, where the singer lalalas or hohohos ever-lengthier melodies and expects the crowd to sing those back).

Tonight's banter was omnipresent and of classic Chili Peppers quality, just a couple of quotes to illustrate this: "What do you call a sheep with no legs? A cloud." (Flea, addressing the audience); "I am sorry I spat on you, sir, it must have been the bath tub of cream cheese I ate before the show." (Anthony Kiedis, apologising to one of the cameramen in front of him).

Spoiler of the night: a camera shot of the set list shown on the video screens well before the end of the night, so we all knew what was coming.

Overall rating: 4 stars. I am not leaving that 5th star out because of the technical glitches, just purely because personally I'll never be a fan of outdoor (festiva)l performances or super-size crowds and will always prefer shows with just their name on the bill, at an indoor venue, with an audience of less than 20,000 (ideally less than 10,000).

Poor cell phone pictures can be found on http://www.flickr.com/photos/jojowiththeflow/sets/72157601675502947/ (had I known they weren't going to check my bag, then I might have risked taking a 'proper' camera).

Thursday July 05, 2007; Wu-Tang Clan @ Hammersmith Apollo, London, UK -- It could have been so good, but it oh so wasn't... Rating 2/5.

(Apologies for the belated review, this needed a bit more thinking-through before I could post.)

As some of you may know, my health and strength still aren't great, so for any gig that I now wish to attend I will usually need two days holiday; the day of the gig itself (to conserve energy beforehand) and the day after (to recuperate), but usually the psychological boost a gig gives me is worth the inconvenience.  This time I don't know if it was worth it.

The Hammermith Apollo is a great venue, small, a converted cinema, and when for gigs like these they take out the downstairs stalls' seating, you're left with a plain floor sloping down towards the stage, so whoever is standing in front of you stands lower than you and regardlesss of your spot in the crowd you'll always be able to somehow get a good view of the act on stage, even when like me you're not very tall.  (Saying that, the English are on average quite a bit shorter than the Dutch, so ever since moving from Holland to England I've been able to see a hell of a lot more at gigs than ever before.)  On top of that, I know it may sound weird, but the (very diverse!) crowd at this particular Wu-Tang Clan gig appeared rather short; the average height seemed below 5'5".

Going perhaps a bit off-topic here, this was one of the first events at the Apollo since the introduction of the all-out smoking ban in England, and the place was plastered with placards warning everyone with the intention to flout the ban that they would be instantly ejected from the venue (which staff very much adhered to on the night).  As much as I may be in favour of this smoking ban, it was a rather weird experience witnessing security staff having no qualms throwing out smoker after smoker after smoker after smoker, yet also witnessing their colleagues in the toilets passively overseeing the rather abundant drug use and dealing that were prevalent there, while no minor appeared to have any trouble purchasing alcoholic drinks from the bars courtesy of the venue's main sponsor Carling.

Back on-topic.  To start with, I won't knock the Wu Tang Clan completely, they know how to put up a show.  They turned up late, the atmosphere in the crowd had already turned somewhat hostile, but the moment they started playing, they managed to instantly turn the crowd, in their favour, into one big bouncing mass.

I was thoroughly enjoying myself, even though the sound quality was atrocious.  Seriously, if I thought the poor sound at Chili Peppers' second night at Earl's Court last year was was the worst I'd ever heard, I now stand corrected: the sound at this Wu-Tang Clan gig was the most abysmal I have ever witnessed.  All I could hear besides the rapping, hollering and swearing was the muffled bass and beat, it was hard to distinguish one song from another, for all I know the RZA could have been playing Barry Manilow records all night, I wouldn't have known, I couldn't hear a thing of it anyway.

But again, so far so good, I was enjoying myself regardless.  Almost an hour in, and a tribute was made to Ol' Dirty Bastard.  I was still enjoying myself.  But then that changed, by what followed next.

After the ODB tribute, Method Man expressed 'he wanted some p***y'.  That remark, in itself, did not make me feel uncomfortable yet.  I thought it was nice when they started pulling all these girls out of the crowd onto the stage, for them it must have felt like a dream coming true, to get on stage with their idols.  They started the music and asked the girls to dance, and they vehemently did, making every move like the scantily clad ladies dancing in the average hip hop video, as if they were auditioning to be in one themselves.

Still, no discomfort on my part yet, neither did the Clan members hollering s*** like 'Yo! Shake yaw booty! Show yo p***y!' cause any discomfort just yet, but Method Man looked unhappy about what he saw and called for the music to be halted.  He said wanted 'more black p***' (most of the girls on stage were white) so a few more (black) girls were pulled onstage to 'redress' the balance.  OK, that remark made me feel slightly uneasy, but little did I know there was even worse to come.  The music resumed, as did the dancing and hollering, until the song finished.

That over and done with, rather then simply respectfully and gently guiding these very young (impressionable?) girls off the stage, Method Man felt the need to 'address' them first.  So he started a lingually colourful rant aimed at them, telling them they were 'dirty p***ies' and 'dirty h*s', and before telling them to 'get the f*** off the stage' he hollered the crowd in to loudly booing them and told them that if they didn't like it they should not have come on stage.  Now THAT's what I got VERY uncomfortable with!

Did I perhaps overreact?  Did I perhaps misunderstand anything?  Am I perhaps completely 'out of touch' with the hip hop generation?  I have been letting these questions run through my head ever since this gig, and have been discussing things with various people (men and women) who know me.  I have come to the conclusion that if indeed I did overreact, misunderstand, or lost touch, then so be it. 

I have also come to the conclusion that what I saw gave me a stark reminder that we as people perhaps need to focus on our younger generations, help them become equipped with some REAL self-confidence (not the superficial type to do with what clothing to wear, what brands to embrace and what type of language and behaviour are 'street') and REAL assertiveness (the type that does incorporate politeness and non-violence yet also allows for an appropriate perhaps-not-very-polite and not-so-non-violent response to any disrespectful treatment).

Feel free to disagree with me, but NO ONE should EVER be allowed to treat another human being as disrespectfully as Method Man treated those girls.  I don't care how much one wishes to state that "Method Man is not really like that" and "it was all just harmless fun" and/or "part of the act" yada yada yada, I DON'T THINK IT'S OK, EVER.

Anyway, back to the gig itself, after that the fun was gone for me, my body could not take any more any longer anyway, so I had a good reason to leave, and as the drug-infused members of the crowd turned hostile again spurred on by the actions on stage, I was happy to leave early as I really did not want for any encore.....

Useless pictures, as usual, on http://www.flickr.com/photos/jojowiththeflow/sets/72157601459458135/

Article "The Red Hot Chili Peppers have a Dutch connection"

Original Article:
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/artikelen/artikel/35281071
Documentary:
http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=4914740&md5=69db85f6993373c9e499c3a37b2584af

Translation:

On Thursday 28 June 2007 Dutch network VPRO broadcast the film "Red Hot Chili Peppers: A Dutch Connection".  It is a documentary about the 'Peppers', a compilation of material gathered by programme maker Bram Van Splunteren over the course of eight encounters with the band: "Eventually the programme editors got fed up with me constantly filming the Peppers, hahaha!"

The oldest material dates back to the winter of 1988.  Van Splunteren: "Back then I was making a series of documentaries for the VPRO.  I had made film portraits of Nick Cave and John Hiatt, and also wanted a young act.  Through someone at record shop "Get" in Amsterdam, I ended up with the Peppers.  Their third album had just been released and the band was coming to Europe.  I wasn't terribly impressed by their music, but live they were great: they were spirited and radiant."

Van Splunteren first met the band in Switzerland, and, to break the ice, brought along videos of their favourite acts.  In the hotel room, while the camera was running, he showed them images of Sly Stone, Bootsy Collins and Parliament [Funkadelic].  "All those clips were bang on.  They loved it and were so suprised, they immediately showed their true selves.  Flea later told me that they had initially wanted to make fun of me, to make a fool out of me.  But it became the start of a good trip."  Van Splunteren and crew ended up following the band for a week.

Especially the friendship with Flea grew quickly on that first tour.  Van Splunteren: "Straight away I had a long interview with him in his bed.  He instantly confided in me, really."  That conversation became the basis for a friendship that has lasted to this very day.  "Last year, at Pinkpop, he came walking over to me from quite a distance to greet me.  We still exchange email.  But nowadays they are so busy; sometimes he doesn't even respond."

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' career has been turbulent: the band was haunted by drugrelated problems and, shortly after the first meeting with Van Splunteren, guitarist Hillel Slovak died of an overdose.  His youthful successor John Frusciante also fell victim to the temptation of drugs.  Van Splunteren: "The strange thing is that I never noticed anything while filming.  Only later, reading the drugrelated stories, I found out they were all dealers who came to settle with the manager."

One of the most gripping parts in the report is the visit to Frusciante, early nineties, after he had left the band and lived as a junkie in Venice Beach.  In this new compilation of the old material it has become an essential moment.  Van Splunteren: "It's wat in Hollywood they call the 'all is lost' moment."  That is the moment three-quarters into the film where for the lead character all seems lost.

Because in this instance, the film maker has chosen to make the fallen guitarist to be the lead of his film.  "In that first interview, Flea says that the band has to grow to be able to continue.  Then the guitarist dies.  Next, Frusciante appears as saviour, but he then leaves the band.  After that, the band collapses.  Eventually, friends arrange for Frusciante to get into rehab and return to the band.  It is a touching story."

With the joining and especially re-joining of Frusciante, successful times came to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  The band left the clubs behind them to start playing the stadiums.  To celebrate, each band member had a swimming pool built in their garden.  Van Splunteren went to Hollywood to visit the Peppers at home: "Only later did I find out that singer Kiedis had been angry with us for not coming around his house to film him.  But during that time it was impossible to get hold of him."  Anthony Kiedis does have the biggest ego of the Peppers.  Van Splunteren: "Only now do I see that the band members sometimes had arguments during filming."  The footage of Kiedis and Frusciante playing Under The Bridge on a boat in Amsterdam illustrates that.

Van Splunteren followed the band for a long time, but only lately has he learnt to appreciate their music:  "I like their latest album [Stadium Arcadium] best.  It has songs that you can easily sing along to and I am a sucker for those."  To a journalist, not being a fan of your subject bears advantages:  "I think it contributed to the quality of the material.  But I also realise how naive and curious I was.  I was suprised at everything."

Last weekend [24th June], Van Splunteren also managed to film the band at the Goffertpark in Nijmegen [Netherlands], and talk to Flea and a few die-hard fans.  That footage will be included in the film.  He also got to present the band with an award for selling 100,000 copies of their album.

"I found God -- his name is Jim Osterberg a.k.a. Iggy Pop..." -- that's how I felt last night after seeing Iggy & The Stooges perform live at the Royal Festival Hall.

I was going to try and give you a detailed review, but I can't; this was just one big beautiful haze of music and energy, thrown at me courtesy of Iggy.  Unbelievable.  Unforgettable.

All I can give you now is, as usual, a collection of horrid cell phone pics: ttp://www.flickr.com/photos/jojowiththeflow/sets/72157601452608874/

When you read my profile and blog, you get about as close to knowing me as you'll ever be.  I don't mean that in a nasty or disrespectful way, I just mean it in the sense that I am not very good at opening up to people and allowing for anyone to really get to know me.  Part of that is deliberate and another part of it is perhaps lack of social skills, I don't quite know.

Further to the above, as much as I love online networking, I feel uncomfortable sharing just everything and anything with anyone, for fear of what it might do to my life, reputation, career and/or people's (mis)perception of me.

While spending some of my spare time attempting to write fiction, it made me think about the philosophy of 'reality' and 'fiction' and how the two sometimes overlap.  Some time ago that brought me to the deliberate decision to create a few alter egos for myself, and so far the experience has been one of great liberation.

My alter egos do things for me and I do things for them, and although they are all part of me they are not me at all.  Sometimes they will say, do or write things that I agree with but would never dare express myself for the criticism or damage it may evoke upon me.  Other times they say, do or write things that I totally disagree with but may provoke people to think, broaden their minds, or respond in any possible positive or negative way, and the feedback that comes from that then helps both me and my alter egos to expand our minds and further develop.

Have I gone insane? No, on the contrary; I have never felt more sane and balanced in my life, and I credit much of that to the creation of my alter egos.  Have I got multiple personalities? Again, No; my alter egos are purely fictional and always will be.  Am I a deceiver? Only if you feel that way about it.  My alter egos will always behave dignified and respectfully to anyone, as will I.  They will never abuse their positions, nor will I.

Think of this what you like, I just felt like explaining.  And if you think you know one or more of my alter egos: please be so kind not to ask, tell or expose.

I am a great believer in the power of music.  I could not live without it.  To me, music transcends everything and anything.  It goes beyond any generation gap, social/economical class, country border, language barrier, cultural segregation, political conflict, religious division, environmental climate...

So I am sorry if I can't always see a justifiable reason for any wellknown musician wanting to use their fame to start voicing their political / environmental / social / etc. opinion, considering what they did in the first place (make music and spread that across the globe) seems so much BETTER than whatever it is they aspire to do instead of or in addition to their main occupation of being a musician.

Disagree with me if you like, but seriously, MUSIC must be the best and most beautiful legacy one can leave on this planet, and looking at history, a lot of music from the past is better remembered than most politics from the same eras.

True, music itself can be used as a means of drawing attention to a certain matter of importance, but unfortunately that principle has been milked so much since Live Aid in 1985 that most of it may have lost its value (even the most sincere 'activist' musicians may now be considered to be doing it for the marketing/PR value to themselves rather than to whatever the 'cause' is they support).

Musicians talking politics may just end up finding themselves being mocked for it (just think of the quirky 'Make Bono History' campaign) or have whatever it was they supported being backfired onto them (remember those British musicians going pro-Blair in the 90s?).

In my opinion, if musicians want to aid any efforts towards ending third-world poverty, perhaps they could get their record and management companies to - for instance - really globalize their operations (creating jobs and infrastructure everywhere rather than just in their country of origin; employing local staff may even benefit the environment because less air travel will be involved) and make an end to policies that allow for unjust price differences between different countries for the same music products.

If musicians want to aid any efforts towards a cleaner environment, perhaps they could -- further to employing local staff rather than travel with huge entourages as already mentioned -- apply more efficient tour schedules (eliminating unnesessary travel between locations / continents), reconsider how much materials etc. to take along on their tours (does Pete Townsend really need over 70 guitars with him at all time?), reconsider the fuel type and fuel efficiency of tour trucks, buses etc., and perhaps deploy solar panels at openair gigs to generate some of the electricity required.  (Measures as such may actually turn out more cost-efficient as well, leaving them with more profit.)

And if musicians really want to aid any efforts towards achieving global peace, perhaps they should simply continue to do what they do best: make music! Millions of people worldwide are united by their taste in music, and at most gigs I go to the audiences are made up of people of all ages, races, cultural backgrounds etc.  And you never know, maybe if political summits were preceded by pleasant musical performances, perhaps political opponents would come to enjoy things together, and be able to really work things out together towards a better future.

...Just thought I'd pitch some ideas, really...