Miami Gets Even Hotter With Red Hot Chili Peppers

BY Chase Hinton : Special to Music Injection

Hard Rock Stadium in Miami hosts amazing shows week end week out, catering to a variety of audiences. In just the last month, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Def Leppard/ Motley Crue stadium tour and next month Lady Gaga. Last night, the stadium hosted a huge crowd for the Red Hot Chili Peppers promoting their current album: “Unlimited Love” and the upcoming release of their latest album: “Return of the Dream Canteen”.

Opener, The Grammy winning Thundercat (aka Stephen Lee Bruner) , brought a homestyle jam session feel to the party. His work on the bass was a thing of beauty. His musician ship was so impressive, even Flea had to pop out, to the delight of fans, to watch and appreciate. If you missed the set, you missed some real talent.

The Strokes brought a solid performance in belated support of their first studio album in seven years. Released in 2020, “The New Abnormal” went on to claim a Grammy for Best Rock Album at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards. Vocals were spot on and it solidifies their place in Indie Rival history.

As expected The Red Hot Chili Peppers brought the crowd more than they expected. The more energy the band brought, the more energy the the crowd received and returned. At one point the crowd was singing so loudly it was almost drowning out the sound of the band, even in the pit. With each song of the 1 hour 42 minute set, the crowd got louder the energy got stronger. Even the South Florida humidity couldn’t dampen the spirit. Considering Miami in the summer time can be plagued with thunderstorms, it was just short of a miracle that not a drop of rain fell. A stark contrast to their recent appearance in Denver where an approximately 30 minute, preshow, downpour, was a hindrance.

This entire tour has been one big welcome back love fest for the band of our youth. At one point  Anthony Kiedis stopped the show to point out that the smile on his face was sincere. The crowd also broke out into a “We love John” chant referring to guitarist  John Frusciante a fitting welcome back since he has not been back to South Florida with RHCP since 2007. There was not a single disappointed fan to be found, save for the few who might have wished it to last longer.