I’ve seen a bit of discussion about this, but the trailer is now out. What Drives Us is a documentary directed by Dave Grohl about bands touring in vans so they can play live music to audiences. Flea is interviewed for it & the trailer shows some footage of RHCP.
The full documentary will be released on Friday, April 30th exclusively on The Coda Collection via Amazon Prime Video Channels in the U.S. and outside of the U.S. via Amazon Prime Video.
RHCP’s Chad Smith is going to present an art show in NYC in May. I’ve tried to find more details, but it’s currently a merry-go-round with every link taking you back to the same page on the Road Show Company’s website/Facebook page saying he’s doing an art show.
It seems that there is an art show between 28th-31st May, 2021 with an overnight meet and greet on the evening of 29th-30th May which costs $4950 per couple (source: company Facebook page)
Source: Road Show Company
The Pinkpop Festival has announced today that the event will not be taking place this year and the next concert will be 2022. Only Pearl Jam have been confirmed for next year- nothing on RHCP yet.
Source: Pinkpop Facebook page
Sad news, but not unexpected given the times… Rock Werchter, Belgium, has cancelled for this year. RHCP were due to perform. Although many festivals have cancelled for 2021, this is the first one featuring RHCP in the line up to do so.
So sorry for everyone with tickets <3
Rock Werchter will not take place this summer. The four-day music festival will be back in full swing in 2022, from 30 June to 3 July.
This is not a decision we have taken lightly and in recent months we have been talking to governments, experts and colleagues in here and elsewhere about how festivals could take place. With the great momentum on vaccine rollout, we had hoped that it might be possible, however we have come to the reluctant conclusion that given current restrictions we simply cannot prepare for a 2021 festival in the normal way. We want every fan and artist to enjoy the festival to the fullest, and with the current situation we could not achieve this for you.Whilst we know that this is the right decision, we also know that this decision affects many: our employees, the technical crew, suppliers, artists and their entourages, all the local associations and their volunteers, and of course the fans. Our sector has been on hold for a whole year now. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but the dark times are not over, even with the cautious restart happening soon. The once thriving live music industry needs government support. Belgian festivals are internationally renowned.We have a special word of thanks to you, our fans and friends of the festival: YOU ROCK WERCHTER. Every time. Over and over again. You kept hoping during the dark days, showed understanding over the uncertain situation, and gave support to each other and to us. We cannot thank you enough. We look forward to making great memories together again in the future.Rock Werchter will be back next year, in full swing and even much better than that. Some of the planned Rock Werchter 2021 acts will appear. New names will be added to the 2022 line-up too. The line-up and practical information will be revealed later. But you can make a note of these dates now. Strong as ever, we will be back from Thursday June 30 to Sunday July 3, 2022. Ticket holders will be contacted shortly by our ticket partner, Ticketmaster. They can choose to retain their ticket, carry it over to 2022, or ask to be given a credit to the value of their booking. This credit can be spent on any of the festivals that will take place at the Festivalpark in Werchter in 2021 and 2022. Ticket sales for Rock Werchter 2022 will resume later this year.
I’ve just uploaded a load of photos of the Spanish edition of Red Hot Chili Peppers by Gillian G. Gaar and updated the band bibliography to include more details of this book.
Gaar: Red Hot Chili Peppers
Many thanks to Cesar for spending so much time helping out with this!
A five minute clip, entitled ‘Deep Kick’, has been posted on YouTube by a long-time RHCP fan. Deep Kick was the name given to the “lost” documentary which was made/being made of the recording of RHCP’s One Hot Minute album. Video was filmed over the three year recording period, but the final documentary was never released. Only some brief clips have previously surfaced e.g. in the My Friends video and it’s not even known how much of the documentary was made/completed.
This recently uploaded video clip shows brief live footage of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and some shots of them in a coach and a car. Flea is seen conducting a group of children as they are recorded singing “It’s my aeroplane” for the song Aeroplane and there’s also a minute of him (heavily bearded) talking about his elephant tattoo and his “life” ideas for his daughter, Clara (she can do whatever she wishes as long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else or herself). It also features Chad bouncing his child on his lap while sitting at a drum set. The main footage in the clip though is of Henk Schiffmacher tattooing Anthony (dagger) at his tattoo studio in Amsterdam.
I’ve added a new page about the Watts Conservatory of Music that Flea has cofounded in Watts with information about its progress and the relevant social media links. It’s in the Band member/Flea section, but here’s the link:
A new Flea mini-interview has been published on The Guardian website. It’s more a collection of thoughts about a few questions & a book plug than a full-scale interview but it is still an interesting quick read.
I’ve been up and down about the band so many times. I’ve thought: “Can we continue without repeating ourselves?” or: “I don’t want to do it any more, I want to grow, I don’t want to be held prisoner by money, fame or power.” Then we’ll play a great show or write a song that has me tingling with excitement and I’m completely in love with it again.
Full interview: The Guardian
