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11th July 1998, Kerrang! (UK)
many thanks to Lauren, for typing it out
click the transcript for the scans

June 13/14, Washington D.C.: the Red Hot Chili Peppers are booked to play two sets at the Tibetan Freedom Concert at the 130,000-capacity RFK Stadium. The Friday before the stadium dates, the band will appear at the 800-capacity 9:30 club. These will be the first Chili gigs in 11 months. They will also mark the return of guitarist John Frusciante to the ranks, 6 years after he walked out on the band midway through the ‘BloodSugarSexMagik’ tour.

The last time the Red Hot Chili Peppers walked onto a stage was at the Mount Fuji Festival in Japan in June ’97. Much has happened to them since then. Drummer Chad Smith and erstwhile guitarist Dave Navarro initially recorded an album together under the moniker of Spread. It is still to be released. Navarro and Flea joined Perry Farrell and drummer Stephen Perkins on the brief Jane’s Addiction reunion tour. Then in April of this year Navarro announced he was quitting the Chilis for a solo career, a decision all parties are putting down to “creative differences.”

Frusciante’s reinstatement was a shock. Ever since he’s been out of the Chilis, rumors have circulated about his ailing health and alleged battles with drug addiction. For many, though, Frusciante completes the definitive Chili Peppers line-up alongside front man Anthony Kiedis, Flea and Smith.

The first time Frusciante appears in the lobby of the plush Carlton Hotel, no one outside of the band’s inner circle recognizes him. His hair is now shoulder-length and also its natural dark brown after years of multi-colored dye jobs. He looks a little older, naturally, but also fit and well.

It’s 7pm on a muggy Friday evening and we are speeding through the dilapidated streets of downtown Washington in the Chili Peppers’ van. Located in one of the cities most crime-riddled neighborhoods, the 9:30 club is surrounded by run-down bars and graffiti-covered walls. Tonight’s gig was announced on a local radio station two hours ago and reportedly sold out in five minutes flat.

Inside the 9:30 club is like a bigger version of London’s LA2. A balcony runs around the sides and back of the venue. The stage is small and low. The Chili Peppers sound check for 30 minutes, running through a handful of the songs they’ll be performing later. They look happy and relaxed, Frusciante seemingly slotting in with the minimum of fuss. Musically, it doesn’t sound as if he’s ever been away.

The atmosphere in their compact, candle-lit dressing room in the hour before the Chilis go on is also low-key and chilled out. Lots of friends pop by to say a quick hello. Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard drifts in to wish them well; he and Smith make plans to go out and “get drunk” after the show.

A little after midnight the Chilis take to the stage and uncoil the slow burning ‘Love Trilogy’. This sets the tone for the rest of their 45-minute set. They concentrate on their looser, funkier material, playing a number of songs they’ve never previously done live. There’s ‘Blackeyed Blonde’ off 1985’s ‘Freaky Styley’ album and the little-known B-side ‘Soul to Squeeze’.

Short and sweet, the gig is a resounding success. The return for a single, chaotic encore- a white-knuckle version of The Stooges’ ‘Search and Destroy’. Afterwards, Smith and Gossard head off into the Washington night and the rest of the band retire to their hotel. Anthony Kiedis enthuses about playing onstage with Frusciante again on the drive back.

“I love it,” he says. “I’m so enamored with his playing, with his energy and with just everything about him. And the chemistry that happens when we are together… I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not asleep, because it means that much to me and it feels that good that I’m just waiting for someone to go, ‘Just Kidding.’

Rewind to 5PM Friday evening. We’re in Anthony Kiedis’ hotel suite. The rubber-limber front man is sitting at a table in the lounge area of the hotel suite, sipping water. He is explaining how the Red Hot Chili Peppers recruited John Frusciante.
“We had actually been loosely in touch with John before Dave Navarro left,” says Kiedis “but never with the concept of playing together. It was just that John had started getting his life back together and began coming around. He and Flea had kept in sporadic contact ever since he left the band, but he and I had not.

“Right around January, I went to visit him and we kind of made up with each other- decided that whatever happened in the past happened, said we loved each other. So we became friends again, never thinking that we would make music together. But when Dave left, Flea called me up and asked what I thought about playing with John. I told him it would be a dream, but that it was a very far fetched concept. Then a week later we were playing together.”

What was John up to before he re-joined?
“He was drinking smoothies (a non-alcoholic fruit cocktail) and listening to records,” Kiedis laughs. “John has a great record collection. He sits on the floor at home listening to records, drinking smoothies and smoking cigarettes. But he also got healthy again and decided to stop living in his own universe of isolation and start getting back with people.”

What was your first reunion meeting like?
“It happened before we decided to play together. It was pretty uncomfortable; both John and I were very awkward. It’s kind of like meeting up with your ex-girlfriend after six years of not seeing her. But there was an undeniable love in the room. We both realized that all the negativity and the resentment and the bullshit of the past did not matter, and we were both willing to shovel that down the drain, so it was really positive.
“The first time we got together to play, it was amazing. It just felt so right. It didn’t matter that we hadn’t played together as a band for six years- it was natural.”

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