My Red Hot Dream

Long time, no talk Cyberspace.

How the hell are ya? I'm doing wonderfully. As you may have noticed, I took a brief hiatus from writing this blog. Why? First of all, I was moving and didn't have the internet hooked up. The second and by far most important reason is that I took a little vacation - to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Montreal.

To say that RHCP is my favourite band may be an understatement. I may be obsessed. I have listened to them everyday since I was about 13 years old. I considered doing a review of the concert, but it would just be fluff - so I'm just going to tell you what I think.

I guess I have to start with this - it may have been the best place I've ever been (I think it's a toss-up between this concert, holding my daughter for the first time, diving with sharks and standing in a Buddhist monastery in Thailand overlooking what I can only imagine paradise looks like). It has always been a dream of mine to go to an RHCP concert, as their amazing live shows are their claim to fame. Making the trip was absolutely nerve-wracking...I just tried to pretend it wasn't going to happen.

All of the sudden, I'm sitting in the Bell Center. The opening act is terrible - there isn't a single person in the arena listening to 'Sleigh Bells,' quite possibly the worst band I've ever heard. There are crowds of people and large pockets of empty seats. I begin to form my strategy for moving in closer to the stage - but as the whining voice and distorted bass descend to silence, the seats quickly begin to fill. Stagehands are frantically rearranging the equipment on stage, unveiling Chad Smith's drum kit (Oh My God!! Is that Chad Smith's drum kit!?), tuning Flea's bass and new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer's guitar (is this actually happening right now?!), setting up Anthony Kiedis' microphone (pinch me, slap me, wake me up, this has to be a dream!!!). The crescendo of the murmur in the crowd peaks in a roar as the band files on stage. Everyone stands as the beginning toms of 'Monarchy of Roses' cuts through the noise of the audience - they will not sit down again until well after the encore is over.  The music is almost drowned out by the cheers as Anthony Kiedis runs onto the stage, grabs the microphone and begins an hour and fifty minute set of musical ecstasy.

From older hits like Californication and Under the Bridge, newer hits such as Goodbye Hooray and an assortment of seemingly random songs like Throw Away Your Television, RHCP gave the mass of people in the Bell Center more than their money's worth.

After the concert, we retired to our hotel room in a state of euphoria (well...I was in that state anyway). We had made the trip by car from Fredericton to Montreal, so we were fairly worn out and passed out rather quickly. I was not prepared for the next morning. I awoke to a feeling of...emptiness. I can now imagine what post-partum depression feels like (not actually, but you catch my drift). I didn't realize just how excited I was to actually make this dream of mine come to fruition. Waking up the next day with nothing to look forward to made the immediate future seem very drab. I missed the feeling of anticipation, the feeling of excitement - it really brought to life for me the saying "Be careful what you wish for."

Having said that, I could never regret it. This was the one thing I had wanted for longer than anything else and finally experiencing it was an indescribable feeling. To the people that made it happen - I'm indebted to you forever.

I guess I'll leave you with this - make your dreams come true - but when you do, be prepared for afterwards. And never, ever, ever, EVER miss a chance to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers - it's life-changing.

Peace and Love
The Critical Stranger

As always thoughts, comments and suggestions are encouraged and appreciated!