Didn’t get a chance to write a review of last week’s Red Hot Chili Peppers concert until now, but after the strange weekend, I really can’t remember everything I wanted to say.

Jon Bream at the Strib didn’t like it at all (see here and here). Ross Raihala at the Pioneer Press basically felt the same way. I found the Bream references to AARP a little ironic, considering his bio says he started writing about music in 1974. I usually like his reviews, but I thought this one was off the mark.

We had never seen them before, but I thought Flea, Anthony and Chad had a lot of energy and were very fun to watch. There was one song that I didn’t think came off very well in the middle of the show (don’t know the name), but I was very pleased afterwards.

As for Josh Klinghoffer, I thought he did great, broken foot and all. To expect him to be as good as departed top 100 guitarist John Frusciante is an unfair comparison and to claim the Peppers aren’t worthy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is just dumb.

This was the first arena show I’ve been to in a while and was pleasantly surprised by the acoustics in Target Center. Still not as good as Xcel, but not the horrible muddied mess I remembered from my last show there. The lighting and special effects were great too, adding a lot to the overall experience. I can’t imagine how much that gear must have cost to assemble and program…

The set list (according to Bream):

• Monarchy of Roses
• Around the World
• Snow (Hey Oh)
• Otherside
• Throw Away Your Television
• Look Around
• Emit Remmus
• Can’t Stop
• The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie
• Me and My Friends
• Parallel Universe
• Under the Bridge
• Ethiopia
• Californication
• By the Way
• ENCORE
• instrumental jam
• Suck My Kiss
• Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Neil Young)
• Give It Away
• instrumental jam