Red Hot Chili Peppers at Western Springs

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

That the Red Hot Chili Peppers have burned this long is one of the great mysteries of modern rock. That the influential Californian quartet continues to thrive is even more miraculous.

But here they were on their fourth visit, touring on the back of By The Way, the song-strongest album of a career which started out all punk-funk freakiness and pulling in maybe 20,000 to Western Springs, under alleged summer skies which cleared just in time.

And they were great, delivering a show that didn't feel like the usual stadium rock grand gesture nor a by-rote performance. With their set drawing mainly on By The Way, its predecessor Californication and back to the'91 breakthrough Blood Sugar Sex Magik, they veered neatly from beatific pop like the Beach Boys-ish Universally Speaking, to balladry like the inevitable encore Under the Bridge to the throbbing funk-rock of Suck My Kiss introduced by frontman Anthony Kiedis as a folk song originally sung by Invercargill fishermen. Kiedis and fearsome bassist Fleas song introductions showed the band hadn't lost their sense of humour, even if their songwriting had become more thoughtful and tuneful.

With video screens carrying the action to the back rows, it was noticeable that although they were on a giant stage, they remained within a distance so that they played to each other. That communication kept the occasional instrumental indulgences as an enjoyable sideshow, especially the fleet-fingered quasi-classical intro performed by Flea and guitarist John Frusciante for the song Californication.

And in the end, RHCP showed that if by virtue of their years they have graduated to rock institution, there are traces of their original rap-rock hybrid everywhere now and they still have the capacity to surprise. Live, they're now a deeper, wider and oddly lovelier experience.