Red Hot Chili Peppers reached back into their early catalogue at the Hollywood Palladium on October 17, during a benefit celebrating 25 years of Silverlake Conservatory of Music. The Los Angeles date appears in the band's official post; the venue and anniversary event are listed on the school's calendar.
NME reports performances of Blackeyed Blonde, Organic Anti-Beat Box Band and Nevermind, alongside later material including Can't Stop, Black Summer and Eddie. The report identifies unusually long gaps since some of those earlier songs were played. That rarity history is NME's reporting, rather than a performance database independently audited by MP3Raid.
Three songs, two albums to return to
For listeners arriving through those clips, there's a short route into the original records:
- Blackeyed Blonde and Nevermind: both point to Freaky Styley, released in 1985.
- Organic Anti-Beat Box Band: return to The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, released in 1987.
Those dates come from the band's discography. You can use the two albums as a small listening project: pick one of the concert songs, then include its neighbours in the original track sequence. Listen for the change in pace as one track gives way to the next. There's no need to work through the entire catalogue to put one rediscovered song back in context.
A current performance also changes the question. Music associated with Hillel Slovak's era is being played by the present band, with John Frusciante on guitar. The songs predate that lineup. A clip of them being played now still leaves you with two separate recordings to explore: the old studio track and the new live performance.
What the anniversary supports
The benefit was for a working music school. Silverlake's history and mission describe how it began and whom it serves. Founded in 2001 by Flea and Keith “Tree” Barry, with Peter Weiss helping establish the school, it offers music education and scholarships. For children whose families can't afford tuition, its scholarship programme supplies free lessons and instruments.
Someone drawn in by the performance can follow that work through the school's class and scholarship information. How much did this particular evening raise, and how far will it go? We found no confirmed fundraising total in the sources checked for this article.
We weren't at the Palladium, and fan recordings can't support an MP3Raid verdict on the room's sound. They can provide a starting point for choosing what to hear next. Use our album-credits guide to check who played on the original record before assuming the guitarist onstage is the one you're hearing on the album.