36 years and spicy as ever, Red Hot Chili Peppers turn the heat up at F1 finale

The time was 10.12 pm on Sunday (Sept 22) and the crowd at the Padang erupted into a chorus of cheers and whistles as Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel bagged a win at the 2019 Formula 1 race.

But there was another reason for the pulsating excitement in the air. 

After 17 long years, Red Hot Chili Peppers returned to Singapore's stage and boy, were they as spicy as ever.

With tensions running high and adrenaline thrumming through everyone's veins, the American rock band kicked it off on a high note with an intro jam.

Needless to say, in true classic Red Hot Chili Peppers fashion, bassist Flea was already shirtless from the get-go.

The combination of energetic riffs from guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and pulsating beats by drummer Chad Smith segued into their hit single Can't Stop from their 2002 album, By the Way, as lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis took centre stage.

And yes, after all these years, he's still rocking his jean shorts, faded singlet and cowboy hat.

Despite the heat and haze, it did nothing to dampen the crowd's euphoric high as the funk-rock band showed just what it takes to be worthy of being inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Age showed no sign of slowing down the band members too. 56-year-olds Flea and Anthony flipped and dashed up and down the stage, belting out their setlist with the fervour of performers at their final concert (but we all know these legends are far from their finish line).

Just after the half an hour mark, the heat got to Anthony and he finally, finally, took his shirt off.

A particularly enthusiastic fan standing next to us yelled: "I'm so happy to be here!"

Under the intense stage lights, you could see the beads of sweat dripping off his stache and rolling down his dad bod that's still impressive for a 56-year-old. 

What really caught our attention though, was their ability in masking technical faults.

Being so close to the stage, we could see Anthony struggling with his headset. There were also sound issues and in the middle of another song, he kept signalling as though asking to turn the guitar's volume up.

True to the saying "the show must go on", they continued to hype up the crowd while Anthony would seamlessly slip off every now and then before returning to centrestage.

Almost as abruptly as they came, the members departed from the stage at the end of the set, much to the dismay of fans. Not one to give up, chants of "we want more!" and "one more song!" filled the air as fans resolutely stayed where they were.

They even broke into a chorus of "ole, ole, ole", before Josh returned to the stage for his solo performance, Purple Rain - a tribute to Prince.

One of his guitar strings might have snapped just two bars into the song but he absolutely smashed that solo anyway. Guys, we might just stan a legend.

As a band of few words, they took our breath away with just their hypnotic funk and crazy vibe, leaving us speechless after their departure. We turned to another fan next to us, 31-year-old Lam Weng Yuin, and asked for his thoughts on the concert. Lam had arrived early, way before 6pm, to nab a vantage point in the mosh pit. 

His response?

"[It was] f****** awesome."

rainercheung@asiaone.com