Red Hot Chili Peppers in Hong Kong

I am the number 1 fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the Philippines, or that's what I always I tell everyone. I started idolizing the band when I was in high school, during the mid-90s, when kids of my age were into Nirvana, Metallica, Pantera, Sepultura, Alice in Chains, and Silverchair. Now, more than 15 years had passed, I'm still a solid RHCP fan!

What I have with the band was like a love-at-first-sight love affair, and a love spell was cast on me the very first time I heard their music. Their most popular song, "Under The Bridge", was responsible for making me a RCHP fanatic. The song shot me through the heart and permanently imprinted their name in my brain. 

When they released their 7th studio album entitled "Californication", my addiction for the band became incurable. Each one of the songs in that album enthralled my soul. Same is true with all the songs in their succeeding albums, "By The Way", "RHCP Greatest Hits", and "Stadium Arcadium". RCHP is not your ordinary rock band; what makes their style unique is that it fuses funk with other genres, punk and psychedelic rock included. My kind of music.

Aside from listening to their music almost everyday for more than 15 years and collecting their cassette tapes and CDs, I am also gathering books and magazines that feature them, as well as t-shirts and and other stuff with their logo imprinted on it. This is how influential RCHP on me. 

Their latest book - The Oral Visual History of the Red Hot Chili Pepper.
I was probably one of the firsts in the country who bought this. 

at fully-booked Shangrila

That's why when I heard the band will play in Hong Kong on August 9, 2011 as a kick start for their current world tour to promote their upcoming album "I'm With You", set to be released on August 30, I did not have second thoughts of going to Hong Kong and watch them play. Only that Mija & I encountered a tiny rampart since we had earlier booked a trip to Taipei on the same date. But after rebooking our Taipei trip to a later date, my dream of seeing the RCHP play live now turned from a remote possibility into an absolute reality.

To make the long story short, Mija and I flew to Hong Kong and watched the RCHP play at the Asia-World Expo on August 9, 2011. Here are the songs that RCHP played in Hong Kong:

1. By The Way
2. Charlie
3. Can’t Stop
4. Scar Tissue
5. Look Around
6. Dani California
7. I Like Dirt
8. Otherside
9. The Adventures of Raindance Maggie
10. Throw Away Your Television
11. Jam
12. Universally Speaking
13. Right On Time
14. Californication
15. Higher Ground
16. Under The Bridge
Encore:
17. Sir Psycho Sexy
18. They’re Red Hot

19. Give It Away 

They may not have played my other favorite songs like "Snow", "Dosed", "Around the World", "Tell Me Baby", "Desecration Smile", and many others but the whole experience and it's impact on me was just the same. It was sensational and out-of-this-world! No band and musician made me dance for the entire concert that ran for 2 hours! It was definitely a dream come true for me.

Two tickets for me and Mija

Our RHCP shirts!

Excited for the concert!

Hahaha you rock switie!

at the Asia World Expo

Balcony section

ready to rock!

addition for my collection

my fellow RHCP fanatics

here comes the crowd

Can't stop addicted to the shin dig. Cop top he says I'm gonna win big... 

Anthony acknowledging the Filipinos in attedance

Flea, Chad, Anthony & Josh at work

Flea calling out tall motherf#ck@rs! hahaha

My best shot of the night! 

Ads at the concert venue

An unusual event happened during the concert that is worth mentioning. After the first song, By The Way, Anthony spoke and acknowledged the group of Filipino in attendance and even dedicated to us their song, Can't Stop. Here is the youtube link of that speech:

I just wish they will include Philippines as a destination in their next world tour! Hope to see you again RHCP! Rock & roll!