Red Hot Chili Peppers Celebrate SiriusXM Station with Intimate Show at Apollo Theater in N.Y.C.
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Kevin Mazur Red Hot Chili Peppers
New York City's Apollo Theater may be known for its legendary contributions to jazz music, but on Tuesday night, it was the site of something a bit more punk rock: the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The alt-rockers played an intimate, 14-song set at the storied Harlem venue for SiriusXM's Small Stage Series in celebration of their SiriusXM channel Whole Lotta Red Hot, which is available on channel 105 through Sept. 30.
Frontman Anthony Kiedis, 59, drummer Chad Smith, 60, bassist Flea, 59, and guitarist John Frusciante, 52, ran through a series of energetic classics and new favorites alike, including cuts off their most recent No. 1 album Unlimited Love, which came out in April.
After an introduction from Chris Rock, the group kicked things off with "Can't Stop," and played everything from "Soul to Squeeze" and "Black Summer" to a cover of the 1970 Funkadelic song "What Is Soul?", which they originally recorded as a By the Way B-side.
A number of stars were in the building to take in the show, including Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson, Michael J. Fox, Questlove, Jason Biggs, Stella Maxwell, Henrik Lundqvist, Guy Oseary and John McEnroe.
Kevin Mazur Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Apollo has long played host to legendary acts including Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and James Brown upon opening under its current name in 1934. The theater received state and city landmark status in 1983.
The concert was just the latest in a whirlwind few months for the Chili Peppers, who are currently gearing up to release their 13th studio album, Return of the Dream Canteen, on Oct. 14. The rockers also took home the Global Icon Award at the MTV Video Music Awards last month.
"We went in search of ourselves as the band that we have somehow always been. Just for the fun of it we jammed and learned some old songs. Before long we started the mysterious process of building new songs," Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote in a statement. "A beautiful bit of chemistry meddling that had befriended us hundreds of times along the way."
The band continued, "Once we found that slipstream of sound and vision, we just kept mining. With time turned into an elastic waistband of oversized underwear, we had no reason to stop writing and rocking. It felt like a dream."
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Their new SiriusXM channel features the band hosting shows and taking fans track-by-track through their new albums, plus live performances from their vault, side projects and tunes from their favorite artists.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, Red Hot Chili Peppers have carved out a niche in the genre-bending world of alternative rock, blending rock, punk, metal and more into their unique sound.
Their self-titled debut album was released in 1984, and they broke through to the mainstream in 1991 with Blood Sugar Sex Magik, which included hits like "Under the Bridge" and "Give It Away." They've had two No. 1 albums: Unlimited Love and Stadium Arcadium in 2006.
