Red Hot chilli Peppers Sydney

The Chili Peppers' set list featured classics from the late 80s through to seven less established cuts from last year's albums, thrilling and disappointing ...

It is a trick they repeat with By the Way and Can’t Stop, the magic of which make the other 100-odd minutes all the more lacklustre by comparison. At this stage in an accomplished career they should be putting on a tight, intense show with much less filler between great songs and less fiddling around between songs altogether. Which makes for an awkward night when generations of the band’s lovers all show up at once, discover each other and start to compare notes.