Red Hot Chili Peppers rock the Bell Centre

Legendary American rock band hits Montreal for the first time in six years

The Red Hot Chili Peppers rolled into town on Wednesday for the first time since 2006, playing in front of roughly 17,000 fans at the Bell Centre for the tour of their latest album, I’m With You.

The Peppers opened the show with “Monarchy of Roses,” the first track off their 2011 release, and played a total of 18 songs, including a three-song encore.

They mixed the old with the new, playing four songs off I’m With You, and several from their previous albums–By The Way, Californication and Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Most notable were hits “Can’t Stop,” “Scar Tissue” and “Californication.”

The show was fantastic, and the band played with an incredible amount of energy, considering how frontman Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea and drummer Chad Smith will soon be half a century old.

If the music, for some inexplicable reason, left you bored, the visuals surely had you entertained. Strobe lights and several moving screens displayed the band, audience and graphics, including pill bottles and unicorns.

The crowd lit up for fast-paced songs like “Dani California” and “Around the World,” but a highlight of the show was during slower jam “Under the Bridge,” where the audience could be heard singing along to every lyric.

Right before the encore, the band played their 2002 chart-topping hit “By The Way,” and the crowd went wild.

No one was in their seat by the time the Peppers–newly appointed rock and roll hall-of-famers– closed the show with “Give It Away.”

The band played for almost two hours, but it seemed like the crowd would have been happy with a show that lasted all night.

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This article was featured in The Concordian