Gorge heats up with Red Hot Chili Peppers ; Foo Fighters, Kool Keith add to the night of loud rock at amphitheater's first big show of the season
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Concert preview
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters and Kool Keith, 7 p.m. tomorrow, Gorge Amphitheatre, George, Grant County; sold out.
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The Gorge season finally gets under way for real tomorrow night with a big, sold-out show that will test the popular facility's improvements, such as the widened roadways to and from the site and the newly enlarged campground.
Forget the official opening two weeks ago, featuring '70s schlock-rockers Styx, REO Speedwagon and Survivor. Only about 6,000 fans made the trek to the dusty expanse of Central Washington for the nostalgic triple bill.
And, let's face it, the horde that will descend on the Gorge tomorrow is going to be a lot more rowdy that the smaller, older Styx/REO crowd.
Even in their 17th year, even after cleaning up their most destructive bad habits, and following their most thoughtful, most mature album ever, "Californication," the Peppers are still among rock's nastiest, most notorious hell-raisers.
The band's hard-driving, partytime punk'n'funk ignites audiences into a swirling, fist-pumping, head-bobbing frenzy. Some of the band's best and most popular recordings are ballads, like its biggest hit and finest song, "Under the Bridge," lead singer Anthony Kiedis' frank and moving confession of his own heroin addiction. But in concert the fans want to hear the loud, intense rock songs, such as "Higher Ground" and "Give It Away." They like to see the Peppers go crazy, like when Flea, the bass player, gets naked (jockey shorts are usually his only stagewear) or when he and other band members trash their instruments at the end of the show.
Tomorrow night's concert has the added heat of Foo Fighters, the highly entertaining, if more conventional rock band, that's sure to get the capacity audience nicely primed for the Peppers' onslaught.
The Foo's latest album, "There Is Nothing Left to Lose," has sold a million copies but is still considered somewhat of a disappointment because it hasn't yielded a smash hit. However, the latest single, "Breakout," has gotten off to a good start and could give the album's sales another kick. (Also high on the charts is the Peppers' new single, the brooding "Otherside.")
Foo Fighters has, of course, a local angle because it is headed up by Dave Grohl, who gained fame as the drummer for Nirvana. After Kurt Cobain's suicide, Grohl returned to his native Washington, D.C., area, exchanged his drum sticks for a guitar and started the Foo Fighters. He went from one of rock's most progressive, forward-thinking bands to his own retro, mainstream creation, and has been quite successful at it. While Foo Fighters isn't challenging or edgy, it's a tight, talented band that puts on a good show.
Grant County officials, especially the Sheriff's Department, which has never been exactly welcoming to Gorge crowds, will be watching tomorrow's event closely. The enlarged campground is supposed to keep concertgoers from pitching tents on neighboring farmlands, and the improved roadways should ease blocking problems on roads near the concert site, a natural amphitheater on the edge of the dramatic, breathtaking Columbia Gorge. Grant County residents have complained about Gorge crowds and the county government has responded by promising greater control.
Kool Keith, who likes to fashion himself as "the Black Elvis," will open the show with his funny, clever raps.
Red Hot Chili Peppers will be returning June 23 for the opening concert of Experience Music Project at Seattle Center's Memorial Stadium, on a bill with Metallica, Dr. Dre with Eminen & Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock and Filter. Tickets for that show are available from Ticketmaster.
And the Peppers will headline KeyArena Sept. 22, with Stone Temple Pilots opening. Tickets will go on sale after the smoke clears from the Gorge gig.