Raw Magazine (71): May 1991

 

 

Red Hot and Stage Diving

The Red Hot Chili Peppers play for charity in LA. The Beastie Boys return to support and even Rick Rubin, Anthrax and Roseanne Barr turn up for the party.

When a Chilli Pepper brushes his teeth in LA it’s big news. So, when rumours of a secret gig erupt, tickets are as hard to find as Kawasakis on Sunset Strip. Add to that an appearance of Rap-O-Metal Rick Rubin discoveries The Beastie Boys and you’d think there had to be a catch. But no… and it’s all for a good cause. Third on the bill Mary’s Danish are that cause, their bass player Chris Wagner needs hip surgery and the line-up has assembled to raise the needed funds, the whole event being waggishly-dubbed ‘The Reconstructive Hip Hop.’

After the opening salvo by Thelonius Monster, TV’s Roseanne Barr took the stage with her husband Tom Arnold and is met with a barrage of abuse. Upstairs in the bar, Anthrax’s Scott Ian looks on in disbelief.

“Actually, I’ve come the see The Beastie Boys. I haven’t seen them in four years,” claims the guitarist who’s just about to head out on the road in the US version of The Clash Of The Titans along with Megadeath, Slayer and Alice in Chains.

Sure enough, the Beasties are back and even old boss Rick Rubin is in the crowd to see them. The trio strutted their notorious past plundering both ‘Licensed to Ill’ and ‘Paul’s Boutique’ though the former’s ‘Paul Revere’ had more than a couple of cobwebs. But neither time, money nor success has blunted their edge making white Rappers like Vanilla Ice sound as anaemic as they really are.

And what did Rubin think?

“Amazing! It was like they’d never been away!”

Finally to the Chilis. Kicking off with ‘Fight Like A Brave’ Anthony Kiedis was his usual crazed self as the crowd quickly aped their heroes by peeling off their shirts and leapt around like wide-eyed frogs on acid. If ‘Taste The Pain’ only worried the speakers then ‘Magic Johnson’ had the earthquake investigators looking for cracks in the floor and ceiling. Each song was punctuated by a steady cascade of stage-divers, even their inspired cover of local Rap group NWA’s ‘Boyz ‘n’ The Hood’ was given Thrashing applause.

With the ink barely dry on their massive new record deal with Warner Brothers, the Chilis’ humour spiced Funk Rock finally looks like moving out of the second division and into the big league!

 

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