Critic's evaluation
On that afternoon of November 10, the temperature dropped rapidly in the space of an hour. Between 3 and 4 p.m., the city clocks showed a drop of five degrees, from 28ºC to 23ºC, leaving the city of São Paulo with a comfortably mild climate.
In this weather, Avenida Francisco Moratto, in the vicinity of the Morumbi metro station, was as busy with pedestrians as it was with vehicles. People came and went at speeds that balanced between hurry and calm, while sharing space with the street vendors positioned on the curb.
Like a funnel, that tail of pedestrians wearing black flowed freely into Rua Jorge Saad. There, the roads were blocked off to cars, which gave people a more independent route and more options for street vendors to display their products.
As you got further into the street, you could see the round architecture of the Estádio do Morumbi on the horizon. This was the destination of the crowd of pedestrians who didn't shy away from a sudden drizzle and who, in a few hours' time, would be welcoming the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their fellow Irontom openers.
Inside the stadium, traffic was intense. No matter how many people were coming and going from the inside of the stadium to their respective sectors, at 7:34 p.m. the premium concourse still had a considerable amount of free space, as did both sides of the grandstand.
A sudden uproar began when the image of the Red Hot Chili Peppers appeared on the big screens during the broadcast of the presentation of the stadium's technical specifications. However, this frenzy soon dissipated, leaving the audience once again in the company of the ambient sound.
Irontom
At 7:44 p.m., the stadium witnessed a unison but sudden echo of shrill screams. That's when the lights went out and Irontom took their place on stage, while already introducing Common Chaos, their opening song full of pressure and making the thousands of ears in the audience pay attention to the melody.
Con Artist, which followed, was surprisingly well received by the audience, who made their shrill screams reverberate throughout the stadium. "São Paulo, tudo bem? Tudo bem? Lets boogie!" said lead singer Harry Hayes, as he was matched by hysterical screams and introduced Call Me The West.
"Obrigado, São Paulo! We are Irontom from California!" thanked Hayes. After this brief interaction, the audience formed a single vocal body as they shouted 'Irontom'. Taking advantage of this energy, Down For Watever became the soundtrack of the Morumbi stadium.
In the bluesy Big Shot, the band was accompanied by the audience clapping the rhythmic beat throughout. As an act of impromptu interaction, Hayes encouraged the audience to sing the onomatopoeic chorus, an attitude that was easily and happily responded to. This initiative lasted for a few more moments after the song had finished, making it the first highlight of the show.
After Super//Star, the show reached its second high point, but this time to the sound of a cover. With Feel Good Inc., a Gorillaz single, being the song chosen for playback, the atmosphere was no different, if not consumed by an ovation of hysterical screams. Taking advantage of the frenzy, Hayes clapped his hands and was quickly echoed by the audience. What was most striking, however, was Irontom's new take on the song. The new version was given a much more acidic interpretation than the original, and was able to elicit the most diverse praise from the audience, who even responded to the request to do an ola in the rhythmic tempo of the song in a purposeful repetition of the instrumental after its official closing.
The setlist also included Stick Figure Attack and Be Bold Like Elijah, songs that managed to excite the audience, but to a lesser degree than Big Shot and Feel Good Inc.. After introducing the rest of the band, guitarist Zach Irons, keyboardist Dan Saslow and drummer Dylan Williams, Hayes happily thanked the crowd with an air of satisfaction, and at 8.30pm, Irontom's show in São Paulo came to an end.
In retrospect, the Californian group surprised with their pressure and precision of sound, as well as the musicians' obvious tuning. However, it is inevitable to agree that one of the things that will stick in the minds of those present is Hayes' repeated slogan asking for "mãos, mãos!", in an insane desire to get the audience to raise their hands as high as possible.
There is no counter-argument to the fact that Irontom managed to show that they have a powerful sound capable of pleasing the masses as well as the most refined ears. There's also no doubt that Hayes was a well of sympathy and empathy, always smiling and showing a look of honest cheer and joy for the moment.
While the movement on stage was intense due to the presence of the roadies setting up the space for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' performance, the audience, on their own, gave a general cheer. In addition, the audience also shouted sudden screams that filled the stadium with their shrill, high-pitched sonars.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
At 9:07 p.m., the Estádio Morumbi was pitch black, with only a mystical bluish light illuminating the stage while a dramatic opera played over the loudspeakers. With it as their opener, the members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, with the exception of Anthony Kiedis, calmly entered the stage and, without delay, pulled out Intro Jam, which was received with shouts and head and torso movements. During John Frusciante's guitar solo, Prelude led to an initial frenzy.
Without even giving the audience a chance to catch their breath, Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith launched into the intro to Can't Stop, which the crowd reproduced with vocal chants followed by loud shouts, while Kiedis stood in front of the microphone. Filled with cheers, unison chants during the chorus and looks of enthusiastic satisfaction from the audience, the track was the scene of a moment when, due to the height of the crowd's singing, it was difficult to clearly hear the verses sung by the vocalist.
The Zephyr Song had the same effect, being sung without a breath by the audience throughout its performance. Due to the volume of outstretched hands, the scene was peculiarly beautiful, not least because the synthetic lights from cell phones in the stands created an almost missionary atmosphere for the song.
Suddenly, startling the audience, bassist Flea let out a loud, high-pitched scream into the microphone as Snow was introduced to the audience. During this performance, the payers maintained the same state of excitement delivered in the previous tracks. The same delivery, the same intensity. A new visceral worship.
With an improvised and acidic introduction created by the musicians, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were surprised by the screams of the audience chanting 'John Frusciante'. Undeterred, the group began Here Ever After, a song that was heard in an almost eerie silence, but with a limp-bodied audience that moved disingenuously to the beat of the melody.
After a lively cover of Havana Affair, the Ramones' single, Eddie was introduced, leading even Kiedis to become contaminated by the energy of his own song, causing him to dance frantically and awkwardly during the instrumental moments in a real state of energetic synchrony. On the floor, the audience performed their own interpretation of the choreography created by the singer.
After Parallel Universe had been energetically received with shouts and jumps, Soul To Squeeze then warmed the hearts of those present with its swinging, fresh and beachy soft rock. Here, at Kiedis' request, the entire audience was filled with lights coming out of cell phones so that they looked like drops of synthetic white illuminating the entire stadium.
Tell Me Baby was greeted with screams and an obvious cheer, but it was after Frusciante's cover of Syd Barret's single Terrapin that the whole atmosphere was filled with a deeply moving energy. Right from the bass-driven introduction, the dramatic Don't Forget Me was greeted with grandiose euphoria. With its choruses being sung viscerally by the audience, the stadium was filled with a contagious and curiously nostalgic energy, making the song another important highlight of the performance.
Surprisingly, and against all expectations, Californication was heard by a static audience in a daze, just singing along to the pre-choruses and choruses. It was as if the audience were in an absolute trance. In contrast, Flea was the one who exhorted all his accumulated energy by jumping around insanely during the track.
After Black Summer, the only song from Unlimited Love album on the setlist, was greeted by fans clapping and smiling, as well as singing along to the chorus in a surprisingly higher spirit than Californication, By The Way brought the stadium to its knees. In it, the audience, between jumps and stiff dances, sang the entire lyrical part in a unison capable of being deafening. Another important highlight of the performance.
After this happy chaos, the Red Hot Chili Peppers left the stage showing the sad reality that the concert was coming to an end. While they didn't return to the stage, the camera men filmed various tributes made by the audience to the band who, on their return, made Morumbi a single voice by performing the melancholy Under The Bridge. The song also featured a surface of horned hands and a waltzing audience in sync with the melody.
With Flea at the top of a structure with no functionality for the musicians and the audience jumping as one body, making the Morumbi collapse, Give It Away came on stage, making everyone in the audience sway and sing the chorus of the same verse at the top of their lungs. Before the final chord was played, Give It Away still had a densely acidic instrumental that made the audience reenergize for a moment and jump with an intensity as great as that experienced at the beginning of the song.
At 10.50 p.m., amid loud shouts and clapping, Smith, the last member of the group still on stage, left the venue, bringing an end to Red Hot Chili Peppers's São Paulo performance and the halfway point of their short residency in Brazil to present the Global Stadium Tour, the sequence of concerts to promote both Unlimited Love and Return Of The Dream Canteen, the double-bill of releases for 2022.
His legacy is still strong. The Red Hot Chili Peppers presented the São Paulo audience with a setlist full of great hits in a performance that was calm, but also discrepant when comparing the levels of band-public delivery.
The audience was visceral. There were no tears, but the participation was able to bring those present to their peak of energy. It is true, however, that at many moments the pose assumed by the audience was one of a kind of ecstatic stupor. However, the energy of satisfaction and gratitude that was exuded from them could be felt far and wide.
As far as the band was concerned, Kiedis didn't make a fuss, sticking strictly to his role as singer, without venturing into long interactions that needed to go beyond the standard 'thank you, São Paulo' and which therefore require a greater study of Portuguese. Flea, on the other hand, was the court jester, scaring the audience with his shrill screams and drawing attention with his frantic body movements.
Although the audience often revered Frusciante, there was little or no response from the musician to the displays of admiration. Smith, for his part, was a maestro, playing with lightness from the most intense to the most serene phrases, but also without much emphasis on his attunement with the audience.
In general, it's not possible to say that the show had its high points, because for the most part, the audience's delivery had the same energy and intensity. Even so, there was a distinct frenzy during Can't Stop, The Zephyr Song, Snow, Eddie, Parallel Universe, Tell Me Baby, Don't Forget Me, By The Way, Under The Bridge and Give It Away.
Even though the Red Hot Chili Peppers only performed Black Summer as a representative of their latest compositions, the reception was generously friendly. This showed the audience's malleability towards the group's new songs.
Cordial, but also bureaucratic and intense. Seven minutes late, the Red Hot Chili Peppers put on a joyful and contagious show, qualities that their Irontom compatriots have earned thanks to Hayes' charisma and the band's sound quality.
The Estádio do Morumbi was the first venue since the Anhembi Arena to host a Red Hot Chili Peppers solo show in the city of São Paulo since 2013, when it hosted the I'm With You World Tour. Now, with the Global Stadium Tour, the group not only brightened up the night in São Paulo on November 10, but also strengthened their legacy as one of the most influential Californian bands still performing.
