Once RHCP started, I knew it was going to be a good show. They started off with “Can't Stop” which has always been one of my favorites, and followed that by “Dani California”-the hit single off their brand new 2006 album, “Stadium Arcadium,” that hit airwaves before all of the others. Lead singer Anthony Kiedis sported a sort of black vest with pin stripes on the front and an eye-catching green-and-black striped fingerless glove on his left hand that he gripped the microphone with. Flea was definitely the most visually appealing, with an incredibly colorful unitard full of crazy orange, pink and purple designs. And world-renowned guitarist John Frusciante showed up in a nice black blazer with a collared shirt underneath, looking sophisticated and formal enough to be attending a corporate event or cocktail party.

Most of the crowd would probably agree with my appreciation that RHCP played their new hits more than their older ones. In fact, judging from how young everyone around me appeared, I wouldn't hesitate to bet on the fact that more than half of the crowd didn't know any of their music before about “By The Way,” if they even knew that stuff. So I guess that's why so many guys and gals in the audience, instead of focusing solely on the music that was being performed in front of their eyes by such famous talent--offered themselves up to be carried across the crowd above people's heads-some of which, I distinctly remember seeing held up above one group of heads and then all the sudden plummeting from sight very quickly, creating a whirlpool of frenzy and panic in the small circle around the person that fell, for say, ten seconds, before everyone reverted their eyes back to Flea's crazy leotard.

In between a well-devised spattering of about six songs from “Stadium Arcadium,” which all rocked, they threw in “Scar Tissue” and “Right on Time” from 1999's “Californication” and “Fortune Faded” from 2004's Live in Hyde Park. They also included “By the Way,” “Don't Forget Me” and “Throw Away Your Television” from “By the Way,” 2002. Their oldest song they played was “Me and My Friends” from an album I didn't even know about, called The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, released in 1987. I am not ashamed of my ignorance there, because I was seriously 5 years old when that one came out.

In the middle of the set, John Frusciante pleased the crowd with his solo cover of Simon and Garfunkel's ballad, “For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her,” which was amazing, like everything he does every time he picks up a guitar.

The set definitely included several good fast songs that were danceable and worthy of head-bobbing, along with a few songs that made you want to curl up with a blanket and write in a journal while you listened. People broke out the lighters toward the end of the set once the sun went down, around “Tell Me Baby”-or maybe a bit before that. Unfortunately, I'm not a smoker, but I enjoyed watching all of the bright flickering lights against the dark sky.

So, there were definitely die-hards that had camped out all day waiting for RHCP wearing all different assortments of the band's t-shirts from years past, some of whom came from out of state and flew all day or drove for hundreds of miles for just a few hours of auditory pleasure and the awesome sight of Flea's 'tard. And yeah, it was probably worth it for those guys, because the Chili Peppers looked hot and better yet rocked, and definitely played all of their hits.

But I must say, the disappointments I had were that A: I think I'm still sweating from that mosh pit of people, B: I keep having flashbacks of this dude running through the crowd with his face all bloody from God knows what in that crowd of crazed fans, and C: They didn't play “Hard to Concentrate.” I absolutely LOVE that song.

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