Music N' Other Drugs

Milk: $2.78 per gallon

Eggs: 96¢ per dozen

Gas: $1.51 per gallon

*Average prices the last time Red Hot Chili Peppers played a show at Darien Lake

Just as they did on Aug. 15, 2000, Red Hot Chili Peppers opened their show at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center this past Friday with “Around the World,” a scorching track from “Californication” that set the tone for all of the frenzied improvisation to follow. With so many elements of live performance being phoned in these days, seeing a band with 40 years of studio output tinker with the formula can be exhilarating when in the right hands and that’s exactly what the capacity crowd witnessed whether they realized it or not.

Casual fans likely didn’t notice that guitarist John Frusciante wasn’t playing the solos to “Dani California,” “Suck My Kiss,” or “Black Summer” verbatim, but us seasoned pepper heads surely did. The art of consuming an album in one piece is so ingrained in our lifestyle that even the most subtle change makes a difference, so, while the 2009-2019 era of the band is respectable, having Frusciante back where he belongs empowered this show to ascend to a level that the 2017 gig at KeyBank Center could not.

Blend in stellar versions of “The Zephyr Song,” “Soul to Squeeze,” and “Californication” alongside the piquancy of newer tracks such as “Aquatic Mouth Dance” and “Eddie,” and you have a recipe for one of the finest shows that WNY has experienced thus far in 2024.

I remember how badly my 12-year-old self wanted to be there 24 years ago, so the fact that I was able to share this one with my eight-year-old son is something that I’ll never take for granted.

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