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PHOTO BY CHRIS MCKAY
I LIVE REVIEWS (ft
RED HOT CHILI
PEPPERS, THE FOO
FIGHTERS
June 8,2000
Lakewood Amphitheater, Atlanta
The humid June air was just
starting to cool down as The Foo
Fighters crashed into the opening notes
ot their hit. ‘Monkey Wrench.’ For an
hour, guitarist-singer Dave Grohl
screamed and tossed his head around,
constantly revving the crowd up farther.
He led his group through hit after hit in
a fashion more suitable fo arena rock of
the *80s than the legendary group he
kept time for a lew years ago. Four
songs into the set, he was in the audi
ence slapping hands and joking with the
throng before him. At one point he
pulled two “freaks’ from the audience to
‘dance’ during ‘Stacked Actors.’ The
shirtless muscle bound guy and equally
scantily clad young lady thrashed and
danced, eventually devolving into a sug
gestive display on the front of the stage.
“My Hero’ began with a triple
drumming piece as Grohl and
bathrobed Chili Pepper Flea joined in
with The Fog's proper drummer. The
audience was full ol smiles as the three
goofed ofl and went tribal for a few min
utes. After a dry ice covered ‘Everlong,’
The Foo Fighters ended their Metallica-
meets-The Knack set with the
screaming, punkish ‘This Is A Call.’
Having exhausted their list ol singles,
they took their bows before a still
growing den ol iniquity.
Before the Chili Peppers arrived, a
‘Go Lakers’ banner was strung up on
stage left. Shortly after, Flea began a
flurry of noisy, distorted bass notes as
his bandmates filed in around him.
People were running from concession
stands and bathrooms as this solo-ette
became the recent single ‘Around The
World.* It was evident from the start that
this was The Chili Peppers of yore, not
the depressed, metal-tinged Dave
Navarro version of a few years ago.
Following the opener with two
smashes (‘Give It Away,* and “Scar
Tissue*) only amped up the smell of pot
and the voices singing in unison. Soon.
the band relaxed c bit. showing improv
chops as intros to other songs. One
guitar noodle was turned into Dr. Ore's
“Nothin' But A G Thang’ and The
Clashes ‘London Calling’ served as the
opening to the new number “Right On
Time.’
The return to the fold of guitarist
John Frusciante has certainly been the
catalyst to the group’s return to form. He
served as musical director all night. He
started and ended most of the ‘jams’
and squeezed out soulful, melodic leads
that owed as much to Prince as to
Hendrix or Clapton. With a musical per
sonality beside him as strong as Flea's,
itts hard to believe that any guitarist
could hold his own. While Flea leaped,
danoed and played perfectly, Frusciante
stood relatively still, seemingly trans
fixed with what came from his fingers.
There was a subtle grace to his playing
that overshadowed even the flashy car
toon images on the screens behind nim.
The set list was heavy on the new
album, and vtfiile tl»ey did smashes like
‘Under The Bridge* and ‘Soul To
Squeeze.’ surprise omissions included
“Knock Me Down.* ‘Airplane.’ ‘My
Friends,* “Fire,’ ‘Higher Ground* and
anything before 1987. It all worked out
for the best, though.
The unproved material was better
than most ot those songs anyway.
Singer Anthony Kiedis has apparently
been working on his voice in the interim
between tours. No longer relying on
rapid fire rapping, melodies like the one
in “Californication smoothly communi
cated its message of decadence and
creativity. The whole time drummer
Chad Smith pounded out rock solid
foundations for his looser bandmaies to
sail over
The overtly sexual intent of pre
vious tours has been muted into a sen
suality that seemed less forced than it
used to be Many times, the three
mobile members of the group were hud
dled in front of the drum riser, locked
into grooves and waiting for new revela
tions. It was refreshing to see such vet
erans appear as fresh as a teenage
garage group jamming on songs of their
idols. They were apparently enjoying
each others' company and the rebirth of
the group that they started back in
California as teens They have survived
crippling addictions, and even the death
ol their original guitarist. The toll wore
on them for a while, but apparently
they've gotten back in touch with the
spark that set them off in the first place.
I went in not expecting much from this
show, and left feeling privileged to have
witnessed it. Judging by the smiles
around me on the way out,' I wasn't
alone
Chris McKay
JAMES BROWN
June 10,2000
lokewood Amphitheater, Atlanta
Good god. y'all it was The
Godfather O! Soul. Mr. Dynamite. Soul
Brother #1, The Hardest Workin' Man in
Show Business: James Brown.
He was backed by three drummers,
four horn players, two bassists, three
guitarists, a keyboard player, an organ
player, four backup singers, three
dancers, one person who's job basically
was to say ‘James Brown everybody’
and throw capes on the man and: par
tridge in a pear tree at Lakewood; and
Atlanta will literally never be the same
You see, a representative of the
mayor's office walked on stage mid
show and presented The Godtather with
the Phoenix Award—Atlanta’s highest
honor—and named June 10 oflicial
’James Brown Day' in Atlania He was
followed by another fellow who pre
sented Mr Dynamite with “the key to the
heart of Georgia ’
Yes. the show was very good Sure
he played ‘Livin' In America’ and ‘I Feel
Good,’ but so what? He v.as giving
them what they wanted, and though I
was not thrilled to hear them, lot's of
people were. Mr. Brown mostly stuck to
his hits, but through his career, he's
accumulated quite an arsenal ol them.
The show opened with the steaming
“Get Up Off Ol That Thing.' and “Cold
Sweat’ in rapid succession, followed by
“Take It Higher’ and ’Livin’ In America.’
Things slowed down for a moment with
an entrancing version of “Try Me,“ and
hit high gear again with ‘Get On The
Good Foot.*
James was on. The 63-year-old
man was jumping and shaking like
nobody’s business and the crowd loved
every bit of it.
After a briel break for the awards.
James delivered a particularly charged
“I Got The Feetin’.* Mr. Brown, who’s
always been rather socially minded,
then settled down to a short monologue
about how men need to take care ot their
women, tfiich evolved into a rather
involved “Man's Man's Man's World.’
Then another chat about how kids are
running a little too wild and how his
father whooped him one time, even
though he was on crutches as a kid, for
coming home late, which led to ‘Papa
Don! Take No Mess.’ The audience
obviously shared his feelings on the
subject, for about 80% of the crowd
joined in shouting ‘Papa beat the hell
out cf us’ along with Mr. Godfather
every time it came up in the song While
on the ‘Papa’ theme, Mr. Hardest
Workin' -went straight into ’Papa’s Got a
Brand New Bag ’
It seemed like the show was hitting
a grand fmaie. but James kept dishing
out mcie and more. His version ot
‘Georgia On My M.nd* that was slow
and mellow, then peppy and strong.
After ‘The Big Payback,’ Til Go
Crazy,’ and ‘I Feel Good.‘ it was time for
social awareness agam. Mr Brown
spoke about how folks need to get along
and suggested the best thing to do was
right then turn to your right and tell the
person next to you that you love them,
then turn to the person on your left and
tell them that you love them No one was
gonna aigue v.ilh The Godfather so there
were lots of ‘I love you's’ going around
Then into “Please Please Please.’ with
touches ol “Lost Someone *
Firtally. Mr Brown was joined on
stage by Bobby bird for “Sex Machine,’
through which he did the backup vocals
and keyboard with James hitting his
own keyboard as well.
The capes came out and got thrown
but none of them -’ayed on for long.
James was charged and wanted no part
of them. He was cavorting around and
dancing with his backup singers who
were noticeably thrilled, leading me to
believe that it was spontaneous. The
whole experience was great.
Jim Tucci
OESffllg)
EEnEgunuG
, . _) r» „.
*\
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2000