Like I mention in the video, the purpose of this is for me to breakdown parts as I see them, as they come. It's not to play the full performance uninterrupted. There are copyright issues and I want the original poster to get credit for their upload.
No matter what the state of the other members of the band, Chad was always solid. I don't think the group would have lasted without him. A true professional.
@@dtegg91while touring during caifornication era he used to drink 3 beers before start playing while flea, John and Antony were meditating, stretching... however it's weird cause he always seemed to me the most reasonable and professional hahha
what kind of chimp is walking the planet after all this time, does not know the snl stunt was intentional; probably one that has a channel speaking like a complete Puf about not knowing anything or even having the self-awareness to not exist publicly for the sake of his own creatures
Seems like Chad was the most professional in the group. Always has been a great guy and has been a fantastic ambassador for the drum world. Saw him on a drumeo video and he completely blew me away. Tons of respect.
@@markhamstra1083 I tried so hard to like the Chili Peppers because I was in a band that bridged the gap between rock and funk in the early 1980s so it was a style that I dug from the outset. Finally, after years of trying to get into their music, I had to admit that I didn't and, like you, it was primarily because of Kiedis's inability to sing in key consistently.
Chad worked pretty hard to get the tempo up. It starts at around 60BPM and when Chad comes in he pulls it up to 70, then in the break, where it takes off, he push it to around 80BPM. Maybe John's mind stayed at 60?
@@BarrackObamna I would agree. I remember there was one Velvet Revolver performance when Duff (bassist) came in so slow after the drummer had set the tempo with the drum tambourine. I think Duff was on Cloud 9 that show.
Please more content like this!! Not under the bridge lol but live performance breakdowns. So interesting/entertaining and I think amateur musicians like myself could really get a lot out of it
It’s almost like John was just trying to sabotage the performance. He had to know he was out of tune. It’s like he’s a child who doesn’t want to be there. The tension is palpable. Really cool video. I think when Chad and flea came in really hard on that part, they could have been trying to drown John out and salvage a cool part of the song.
He did, and he also purposely sabotaged a lot of the Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour. It’s a shame too, because that’s when the band was at their zenith and then fans didn’t deserve it.
He WAS trying to sabotage it; he was totally done with the band and the fame at this stage and he wound up quitting shortly after. What makes this performance even more of a bummer is that John is right about to enter a really, REALLY dark stage of his life. It gets so bad that Johnny Depp made a short film documenting just how miserable heroin had made his life. It's nothing short of a miracle that not only does he make it through alive, but he returns to the band and creates some of their most popular, beloved music in their entire catalogue.
Loved this. Those stares between the band members, damn, I could feel the tension just looking at 'em. Loved your commentary and descriptions, "some crazy call out, some kind of animal call" haha, I was laughing all the way through 🙂
John was intentionally "sabotaging" some performances. At the end of the BSSMagik era/tour, there is a version of Under the Bridge with the solo from Stairway to Heaven in the final part of the song 🤣🤣 (Edit 1= ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-C_TSPIRTeDs.html
Love these breakdown videos. Been playing in bands a while and it’s cool to see other people pointing out all the little changes, problems, and impromptu stuff. Would love to see more of this kind of stuff.
@@_Only_Zuulthat’s like comparing an angry drunk guy vs a funny drunk guy, I guess?! You’re totally right, btw. Slash was still somehow able to play well despite how drugged he was.
Just saw GnR live for the first time last week. I'm sure it wasn't their best performance ever, but I was so happy to see them live and they didn't disappoint me. Estranged was the highlight though. Slash was on point for that one.
In this case, it was not about being drunk or high, John was going through some crazy tough times, sick of the stardom, he wanted to play in small clubs, not arenas and it all got him to purposely sabotage the shows. So I don't think this is a fair comparison at all
I got one of those stares from the vocalist/guitarist when I zoned out and did an extra verse, didn't even know it until I was mid way into the chorus and my beat started not fitting all that well anymore... Don't zone out on stage, people.. It's not good.
I was in a band that the singer and drummer were mortal enemies. One of the last gig's the drummer broke a stick and the broken part hit the singer, singer thought it was on purpose and threw it back. By the end of the song the drummer had emptied his stick bag on the singer. That was the beginning of the end of round two with the two if them. Round one was while in practice the guitar player starts playing Tooth & Nail, We didn't play the song and nobody really knew it but we went for it. Well it started off pretty good but it did fall apart and before anyone could say something good the singer tells the drummer what he was supposed to of payed. The drummer said never ever tell me what to play or when again as he calmly got up walked over to the singer and punched him in the mouth, turned around and started to break down his kit. Singer jumped in car and sped off. Me and the guitar player started wrapping up cords..... Right after we stopped the tape recorder... Yep got it all on tape and it was a solid punch and with echo it was even better.
I was lucky enough that the closest it got to this was an argument with the singer and guitarist walking out after a rehearsal and effectively breaking up the band. Me and the drummer started another band straight away, though, and it was better, so things worked out.
I understand why bass players and especially drums get peeved when someone tells them what to play but ya gotta have a little less ego and try to lighten up or use reason.
In the book Scar Tissue Anthony does talk about how they used to rip on John a lot when he first joined to the point of him doing things like this then eventually quitting. It was meant as a sort of “initiation” type of hazing but he admits maybe they used to go a little too hard on him back in those days.
I mean, John has spoken many many MANY times that he quit because he didn't like the fame, to the point he said he wanted the band to stop performing at stadiums and go back to pubs lol If there was hasing when he joined it certainly wasnt what made he quit 😂
As someone who's been in the situation of having to play live with a band (and even record an EP) while you desperately want to leave, I can attest it is extremely mentally straining. This performance makes total sense in context.
That's why every band member has to make sure they've ticked all the boxes like tuning, good knowledge of the setlist, comfortable setup and warmup. If you skip any of those, you're going to struggle at least a little. If you have a bad show, ticking those boxes means you can fake it through a bad spot and the band is helping you out. It also means the only way to screw up is a technical failure or you just forget something. Playing a show is an exercise in endurance
Idk. I’ve been in some awkward situations, but this feels like he went on one hell of a bender to deal with the situation personally. I say that because he’s really struggling on that intro. It’s normal for him to simplify it, but he’s accidentally plucking muted strings. There’s no self preservation of ‘At least look good for myself.’
@@jeffrey.a.hanson when your personal life and musical life become one and the same, the personal side going to shit can take out your energy to play altogether. I guess different people deal with things differently, but I remember being so stressed and unmotivated that I just stopped practicing, and went through many nights not being able to sleep at all, which in itself also made practicing impossible since I was always too tired for it. My playing ability took a huge nosedive, and even after finally leaving the band it took me about a month and a half to want to pick up the guitar and start playing again. I don't know what John was going through at the time, but I bet it was far worse (My issues with my band weren't even that bad it just wasn't the place for me), so I get it. Plus he was probably either drunk or on drugs here.
I think that has a lot to do with it. There's also the element of the expectation to "play the hits" which apparently made John come to really resent the song and perhaps even go out of his way to sabotage live performances. The fact that he was struggling with serious addictions issues probably didn't help either.
Can you do a video covering an almost opposite situation? Pearl Jam's SNL Rearviewmirror performance is what comes to mind for me; they seem so cohesive, and the drummer is able to elevate them so effectively.
2:20 That snare buzz is a constant, and it's really noticeable when you're sitting behind a kit. Certain notes that hit the drum's resonant frequencies hard will really make the snares sing, but they're pretty much buzzing whenever anyone is playing anything. I always used to throw off my snares if we had a long, quiet section like the intro to this song, then carefully throw them back on before I came in.
Our band supported them in the late 80s in manchester and London, I'd never heard them much before, jack Irons and Hillel were still in the band, Hillel was to die shortly after. They were great.
I was at that show too...that fuckin intro was insane! They killed that performance. Then the next night RATM closed the festival down. Then Coachella turned into nothing but indie and house music. I wouldn't even go for free these days.
There was another "performance" in Belgium during those years (1999 or 2k...) where Anthony and John were awfully out of tune, Flea and Chad did their job, but the whole band looked like they did not care about the audience.
I remember that wailing backup vocal from'91. The bit about John being in tune with himself but not with the band reminds me of a Corey Wong video called "3 mistakes rhythm guitarists make". The third mistake was about being conscious about what you're playing ( not that he is at that time) so what you're playing isn't clashing with the rest of that band.
In this instance (probably due to his unhappiness with the band), he had tuned his guitar to 432Hz A4 (the tuning he uses on his solo work) despite the band using 440Hz A4 in the studio and live.
i ve actually played along to a good amount of his solo work mostly t.r.w.f.10 days and forward...maybe for smile from the streets and niandra + just a tshirt lps he had it in 432 but its all in 440 since 2001...i know they have put the emphyrean on youtube tuned down to 432 but that wasnt john himself thats the uploader@@possumverde
I never saw RHCP live, but back in the 90s they were not known for being a great live band. Friends of mine came very disillusioned from RHCP-concerts telling me, that it was a complete mess. But when I watch actual live-footage of them I think they have grown on stage and are pretty tight today.
When Califonication came out I seen them and they played great. I seen them again during Stadium Arcadium and was good. However I seen them about two years ago and it was the most sterile set I’d ever seen. It was very apparent it was nothing but a pay check for them, except Chad was the only one actually having fun. That show completely turned me off from them, and I’ve been a fan for over 30 years.
Saw them live in 2018 and couldn’t wait to see them, but I left the show disappointed. £80-90 on each ticket and they played for about 80 mins, missed out some big hits, few tracks were played at a really slow tempo, and Kiedis kept walking off stage between each song, looked like he couldn’t be arsed. No slight on Flea, Chad & Josh but there’s no chance I’m seeing them again
Wow Mike! One of my favorite bands and what a great look at a bad performance. First off, very thankful when I saw them in concert live for the By The way tour, it was magical and not dysfunctional. I do remember seeing the SNL performance live at the time and trying to explain to my mom, that they aren't singing off Key on purpose....hahaha But secondly, what a great series this would be going through amazing bands doing bad performances. We all have done it, and we all have them caught on tape some place somewhere. Love that as a guitar player, you still feel the pain of every other member on that stage. One of the biggest reasons I respect your views is that your not just a "guitar player", your a musician! You see the whole picture. There is some stuff in that performance that John does that could be pretty cool on it's own if the tuning was correct and someone else was in control of the rhythm guitar parts so crucial to the song! Haha. If you have time, I'd love to see a few more of these just like the " Bad Tab" series! Great video, thanks for showing it.
"The wheels are coming off" 😂 I love watching my music heros screw up. Can't lie to ya Marge!! The Van Halen one with the Keyboards in E and the band in Eb is priceless.
Best time to see John play would be 1990, when he’s still on fire live, bursting with energy and singing Inca Roads by Zappa. The Pinkpop concert is a good example, plus they play Hillel tracks off Uplift Mofo, Inc Funky Crime.
These kinds of things really stand out when you're basically a 3-piece playing pretty clean. You got 1 guitar taking up the role of filling all the sonic space and every little mistake sticks out like a sore thumb
John was deep into heroine at this time. The whole band knew the struggles and kept their mouths closed, hoping he would stay, but in the end John made the right choice that saved his life. I'm happy he's still here. The 80's and 90's were completely different than today. It was fun and crazy but dangerous as hell.
I watched this on TV when it aired live back in the day in France with my buddy. We just started getting into the RHCP and were looking forward to seeing them live on TV. We looked at each other like WTF? lol
I did a gig where I was improvising with someone, with me on guitar and him on percussion. Usually we did okay when just jamming out. However, when I listened to the recording of it later, I genuinely felt depressed. He later explained he couldn't really hear my guitar, and I was like, "Well, how come you did not say anything about it?" That is why communication is so important. We are all capable of being off, but if you are playing music with someone and something is off, you have to be able to tell them about it.
So many people are afraid of telling the truth in fear it will hurt someone's feelings. That's how I landed my current job. They asked me how I take criticism and I told them that if I'm doing something wrong and don't realize it and if nobody tells me, I'll unknowingly continue doing the wrong thing, so just tell me what I'm doing wrong, tell me how to do it right, and I'll make the necessary changes.
Great videos , love your channel, maybe let the performance run a little longer, its hard for me to grab a hold of the mishaps in the performance with all the stops. 😀
I actually enjoyed your clip. You should really consider doing more showcasing bands that suddenly screw up on stage. Most of us wouldn’t catch it until we had somebody like you to pointed out.
Being in a famous band doesn't mean the player is any better than any good player. What they have is better songs and a fanbase audience that usually forgives everything. Add to that the pressure that comes with being famous and it's not at all hard to imagine stuff like this happening. In fact I think it's unbelievable stuff like this doesn't happen a lot more.
I saw the Pixies live in 2011 and they had to restart a song like 3 or 4 times and it was actually a blast for the crowd because when they finally got it everyone went crazy.
I think you're really over thinking the part saying. Anthony was trying to figure out where to sing between flea and Jon. I'm sure he was gonna sing the notes the same way no matter what. To think that he was doing that might be giving him way too much credit.
It's good to remember that even our guitar gods are still human after all and are prone to mistakes. I can definitely imagine that if you would be able to go back in time and record every single live show of rock legends you would encounter at least couple sub par performances - and this is not to throw shade at any band, it is just the way it is when you do anything that stressful and complicated, with so many people and moving parts.
While you are right, this isn't really the band making "mistakes." John, their guitarist, was completely over the band and had a VERY rocky relationship with Anthony Kiedis at this point. He basically was just playing nonsense here because he flat-out didn't care anymore, and he wound up quitting the band shortly after. The fact that they were able to reunite years later and basically kick off their second renaissance with some of their biggest material is pretty remarkable.
But there is (or was at least) a generally accepted level for professional musicians. That's a big part of what makes them pro's, the difference between their best and worst performances are relatively small. Mistakes happen but performances this bad are a disaster.... you won't find a lot of them.
I've seen worse performances, I mean I expected worse. John pretty much threw everyone off because he was like I don't care about playing these songs. It was very unstable and he messed up some parts in a very obvious way.
I feel like you skimmed over John's intro guitar part. The fact that he completely improvised that beautiful intro is incredible. There's a part where he plays F# with his thumb, and does a little run with his other fingers, like he's playing both the bass and melody at the same time. Even when he's not trying he can come up with great stuff.
That SNL performance was a trip! I remember watching it and thinking John's playing and singing parts were way off but somehow, someway still meshed with the song and Anthony's vocals, Chad's drumming and Flea's bass kept the song together! It was like an abstract painting in a rock/funk/blues song version.
His tone and some of his licks are so overlooked in that performance. The distorted bridge parts, the added fills in the chorus and the tone on the outro are great. I miss his tone from that era.
@miked3712 - Funny , all I saw was a disinterested guitarist intentionally screwing one of their biggest hits for the whole world to see. Immature noodling. Your band mates and most of your fans were relying on you to bring it.....and you chose not to. Unprofessional.
@@manomano4848yeah, his album from that time, Niandra Lades, has this kind of tone and style of singing and playing. It has a lot of strange parts, but it also has some of the most beautiful parts I’ve ever heard. It opened my mind up to a lot musically and artistically.
Yep exactly that. If I’d play like this live, everybody would say that I am horrible and should quit. But since it’s Frusciante, you’ll always find somebody that tries to find that one note that was in tune and say it’s amazing. It’s like when Jimmy Page played Chopin live while clearly being high as a kite. It sounds awful, and yet there are still people saying « listen to that licks between 00.45 and 00.46, that E note is in tune! What a God ». 🤣
He did it on purpose to sabotage performance..I saw them live at this time and John was pulling out his guitar cord just before his solos and shouting "blah blah blah" into the mic..the vibes were so bad..he quit shortly after that gig
I saw RHCP live in 2001, a few years after John rejoined and there was certainly a bit of tension at that show, with John actually having to ask Anthony what song they were playing next to which Anthony simply replied "this is your show man" Tho luckily the show went without any issues, it just seemed a bit "off"
Could you do more breakdowns like this of other performances and bands? It was entertaining as well as educational for the history of the band and, of course, the music.
Damn, when John and Flee are by themselves playing, you can visibly see the band communicating "John, it's you, you're fucking up" with Flee just staring daggers and Anthony just like "See, I told you"
Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks they botch their live performances. I first noticed this at Bonnaroo 2012 during "Under the Bridge" when they didn't seem to be in sync and I remember my heart dropping when I noticed it, like, "oh no".
John was tanked, he went through a very dark patch. I saw them live 8 times in 2005/2006, and they knocked it out of the park each time. That was the Stadium Arcadium tour.
Yeah, Stadium was their peak, in my opinion. I wish I could have seen them live back then. That album was probably the most exciting _and_ fulfilling album release I have ever actually looked forward to. They were on fire back then.
John was on smack .. he didn’t want to be famous. Lived in a dingy apartment, didn’t bathe. He was a lose cannon on stage, brilliant, other times… well you just watched it. But I did a gig once our lead singer lost his way in a song, made us look like idiots, I was super angry.
I had my drummer look at me (bassist) like that once. But it was because the backup singer was rattling a tambourine out of time in her microphone, not because he and I were out of pocket. That was our backup singer's final performance with the band.
Finally giving a sub for this vid and hoping you do more just like it. I love knowing little details about very very bad performance, having been in many terrible bands myself.
I enjoyed this video but it's worth mentioning that this is around the time that John started dealing with serious substance abuse issues, and was subsequently replaced by Dave Navarro. Technically, this isn't his worst performance but his most experimental. Which isn't the best way to put it but the most accurate.
"replaced by Dave Navarro" - Replacing one substance abuser with another one! But i guess most clean persons couldn't have stood being in the band for very long anyway.
Talented indeed, but at times he comes across as a petulant, attention seeking child, sabotaging the entire band in a “you’re not the boss of me” manner.
John experimented a lot back then live. He's a musical god and even when he would try to fuck up. He would still accidentally make magic that's pretty f****** badass. Great video!
The first time I saw them was when they recruited Arik Marshall when John left. I also saw them with Navarro when they toured OHM and finally with Frusciante a couple of times when he returned. Awesome band either way and always entertaining.
Lollapalooza 1992 in Barrie with Arik was a complete disaster. In fact, i did not hear any lead guitar for their whole set. Thank god Ministry, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam all gave amazing performances. I know because I was sober the whole time.
Holy cow, the Chili Peppers was my first show at a small venue in Burlington VT back in 91. I was actually there to see Smashing Pumpkins, but the Chili Peppers put on such an energetic show, playing mostly Mothers Milk stuff. Pearl Jam opened for them. This was like a month after Smells Like Teen Spirit was played on MTV for the first time. One of the best shows ever. Each band really put their all into it. My memory of the Chili Peppers is nothing like what we see in this video, they were all just so full of energy.
John was at his weirdest at that time, but there was some beauty to what he was doing. He was still a teenager when Mother’s Milk was released, and then all of the sudden a couple years later the band was gigantic. Despite his drug problems at the time, he did release one of the most unique albums I’ve ever heard in Niandra Lades. Although it has a lot of parts that can be awkward, it has some gorgeous moments that only someone with a huge musical talent and IQ can pull off. I think he was just trying to explore himself musically and found it hard to do it with all the expectations of the band after Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
Really? Dude acted like a clown here, there´s a time and place for everything, stop overrating mediocrity. Love it how these days people go around circles to avoid saying negative things. "He didn´t screw it up, he was just a high IQ master we couldn´t comprenhen!" Get out of here! Bread is bread, wine is wine and Frusciante was awful on this SNL show. Deal with it!
@@yearginclarkeAs a gigging musician, the golden rule when you fuck up is act like you did it on purpose. If you fuck up on live tv on SNL and make an “oh shit” face that’s what everyone will remember. This way John still has folks saying “idk, I think he meant to do it” :P
I threw a drumstick at a guitarist once, not hard, just enough to get his attention. I was asked to do a couple shows with a band I knew, as they were looking for a new drummer, and I was just an interim. First show went fine. When we were loading in for the second show, a week later, the bassist asked me for advice on how they could grow their audience. I said I'd take notes that night and see what might need improving. During the show, the band was pretty dismissive of the crowd that turned out, possibly because it wasn't that many people, maybe 20 or so. At one point the guitarist kind of gave up, and he was playing with his back to the crowd, just kinda leaning on a wall, so I threw a drumstick at him, and told him to turn around. I tossed another drumstick at a bass player, but at her feet. She was getting lost in the timing of the song, and the drums weren't playing. I could see her getting frustrated, so I tossed the stick. She looked up at me and I pointed to my hi-hat, showing her that it was opening and closing on the beat heh. She was definitely cool about it, she just laughed and then kept her eye on the hi-hat. After the song I told her I'd keep it going the rest of the show, even where it normally didn't fall, so she could kinda crutch on it. In her defense, she wasn't a bassist, so playing in the pocket was super foreign to her.
Drove 14 straight hours in a blizzard (never having driven in snow before), to go watch them live in Des Moine, Iowa in 2006. Got to the concert venue as they started. They were super shit live. But I knew I would never get another chance to see them live and I love their music.
Yes, this is even worse than SNL performance.... But you can't just blame the guitarist in both performances as if the singer has ever been himself a fine-tuned guy.
Anthony Kiedies talks explains this performance in his autobiography "Scar Tissue" and says it's the worst himself. In short, he was very nervous for this performance mainly because he asked Sinead O Connor to watch it on TV as he really wanted her to like him. What messed him up is Frusciante as he felt he wanted to play it quite differently and it was not announced. Kiedies wrote John changed the chords which made him try to fit his singing and sound out of tune. He really didn't change the chords but did change some voicings, and his guitar wasn't in tune completely. I can imagine all those things add up and make you uncomfortable. I personally don't think this performance is so bad, hey, it's live music, I can listen to the CD anytime.