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[ENTERTAINMENT]Red Hot Chili Peppers put on show, on and offstage

Published: 05 Jan. 2003, 23:54

Having never played in front of a Seoul audience, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were stoked before headlining "One Hot Day," the biggest concert of the summer.

At a news conference the day before the show, Flea (Michael Peter Balzary), the bass player of the U.S. group, showed his typical rowdines, jumping on a table and spilling hot tea on himself.

The following day at the Jamsil Sports Complex, Flea and other band members continued to jump as "One Hot Day" turned into one cool night of rock.

Korea's Crying Nut, the Yoon-Do-hyun Band and Lazy Bone played brief sets prior to Jane's Addiction, which took to the stage just after sundown.

Perry Farrell, the lead signer of Jane's Addiction, did not disappoint the crowd of approximately 4,000. Dressed in a white suit and matching feathered hat, Farrell led the group in a power set, sending the crowd, which appeared heavily peppered with U.S. military members and other foreigners, into mosh mode, everyone pushing and bumping each other in a chaotic fray.

Jane's Addiction's set list included their classics "Been Caught Stealing" and "Jane Says," and an instrumental tease of Pink Floyd's "In the Flesh."

When the Red Hot Chili Peppers walked on stage, the audience fought for position in the general admission area. The band opened with the first single from their new album "By the Way."

The Grammy-winning "Scar Tissue," from the 1999 album Californication, which featured Jane's guitarist Dave Navarro, followed. Paced by Flea's energetic bass introductions, their songs flowed, showing the band maturity gained over a 20-year career.

Concert organizers had expected 6,000 fans in the 8,000-capacity field. The lower figure was blamed on little radio airtime of American bands in Korea.

by Carson K. Smith