Review: Peppers still hot; opening act not

Review: Peppers still hot; opening act not

Thunderous booing for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' opening act drove a noticeable wedge between the California funk-rock superstars and the audience Monday night at the Cox Convention Center, prompting Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante to lecture the crowd on their treatment of underground rapper Mickey Avalon.

Avalon took the stage with two bikini-clad dancers while the convention center was still filling, with DJ Kev-E-Kev cutting between Toni Basil's "Mickey” and Roxy Music's "Avalon” as an introduction. The Hollywood, Calif.-based rapper is quickly gaining an audience, having recently performed on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live,” but his nasal delivery, stage presence and no-frills setup looked and sounded like amateur hour.

The audience smelled the flopsweat and went in for the kill, and the booing only got louder as Avalon ran through his set of art-sleaze hip-hop, including "So Rich, So Pretty” and "Jane Fonda.” His final song, on which he was joined by the duo Dyslexic Speedreaders (featuring former MTV VJ Simon Rex), could not end fast enough for the crowd, which then settled in for a one-hour break before the Red Hot Chili Peppers took the stage.

Nearly a quarter-century into their career, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are consummate professionals and maintain much of the energy that first made them a hot band on the mid-'80s Los Angeles club scene. The set began with "Can't Stop” from 2002's "By the Way,” leading into "Dani California” and "Charlie” from their latest disc, "Stadium Arcadium.” The Chili Peppers also paid tribute to The Ramones with their cover of "Havana Affair” before returning to the "Stadium” with "Tell Me Baby.”

Singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith and Frusciante owned the stage and never seemed to lose steam in a set dominated by their post-1991 output. In particular, Frusciante has clearly accepted his role as one of the leading guitar heroes of his generation, plowing through Jimi Hendrix-inspired solos and drawing rapturous applause from the near-capacity crowd.

But Frusciante was not happy with the audience's treatment of Avalon. As the Chili Peppers' set began, Frusciante told the crowd that those who saw Avalon "will be bragging about it five years from now.” Later, when the band came back for an encore, which included the Chilis' signature song "Give It Away,” Flea mentioned Avalon and drew more booing. Frusciante told the audience it should learn to accept music and performances other than what is "jammed down your throat by MTV.” Avalon returned to the stage to give the guitarist a hug, and the crowd kept its disapproval to a low rumble.

Time will tell whether Avalon becomes a superstar as Frusciante predicts, but the choice of an awkward, raunchy-by-design club act with performance art leanings to open for one of mainstream rock's biggest touring bands was a colossal miscalculation. The concert, delayed due to the Jan. 12 snowstorm, was originally supposed to feature one of 2006's biggest new bands, Gnarls Barkley. But the loud discontent indicated most concertgoers did not see Avalon as a fair trade.

— George Lang