The Red Hot Chili Peppers Super Bowl Uproar

So apparently, the RHCP went “unplugged” for their Superbowl performance. The Internets noticed all their guitars unplugged and went mad! Mad I tell you! How is it NOT ok for a singer to lip sync but ok for a guitarist to “air guitar” they say! They have photo evidence and all! Bring out the pitch forks!

Anthony Kiedis, the RHCP lead, still sang live however, so no pitch forks on him.

Well, the great Flea (RHCP bassist) has responded. According to the official Red Hot Chili Peppers site:

[quote cite=”Flea” url=”http://redhotchilipeppers.com/news/454-a-message-from-flea”]Dear everybody,

When we were asked by the NFL and Bruno to play our song Give It Away at the Super Bowl, it was made clear to us that the vocals would be live, but the bass, drums, and guitar would be pre-recorded. I understand the NFL’s stance on this, given they only have a few minutes to set up the stage, there a zillion things that could go wrong and ruin the sound for the folks watching in the stadium and the t.v. viewers. There was not any room for argument on this, the NFL does not want to risk their show being botched by bad sound, period.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers stance on any sort of miming has been that we will absolutely not do it. The last time we did it (or tried to) was in the late 80’s, we were thrown off of ‘The Top Of the Pops’ television program in the U.K. during rehearsals because we refused to mime properly, I played bass with my shoe, John played guitar atop Anthony’s shoulders, and we basically had a wrestling match onstage, making a mockery of the idea that it was a real live performance.

We mimed on one or two weird MTV shows before that and it always was a drag. We take our music playing seriously, it is a sacred thing for us, and anyone who has ever seen us in concert (like the night before the Super Bowl at the Barclays Center), knows that we play from our heart, we improvise spontaneously, take musical risks, and sweat blood at every show. We have been on the road for 31 years doing it.

So, when this Super Bowl gig concept came up, there was a lot of confusion amongst us as whether or not we should do it, but we eventually decided, it was a surreal-like, once in a life time crazy thing to do and we would just have fun and do it. We had given this a lot of thought before agreeing to do it, and besides many a long conversation amongst ourselves, I spoke with many musician friends for whom I have the utmost respect, and they all said they would do it if asked, that it was a wild trippy thing to do, what the hell. Plus, we the RHCP all love football too and that played a big part in our decision. We decided that, with Anthony singing live, that we could still bring the spirit and freedom of what we do into the performance, and of course we played every note in the recording specially for the gig. I met and spoke with Bruno, who was a beautiful dude, a real talented musician, and we worked out something that seemed like it would be fun.

We recorded a track for the day, just banged one out from our hearts that was very like in spirit to the versions we have been playing live the last few years with our beloved Josh on guitar.

For the actual performance, Josh, Chad, and I were playing along with the pre recorded track so there was no need to plug in our guitars, so we did not. Could we have plugged them in and avoided bumming people out who have expressed disappointment that the instrumental track was pre recorded? Of course easily we could have and this would be a non-issue. We thought it better to not pretend. It seemed like the realest thing to do in the circumstance. It was like making a music video in front of a gazillion people, except with live vocals, and only one chance to rock it. Our only thought was to bring the spirit of who we are to the people.

I am grateful to the NFL for having us. And I am grateful to Bruno, who is a super talented young man for inviting us to be a part of his gig. I would do it all the same way again.

We, as a band, aspire to grow as musicians and songwriters, and to continue to play our guts out live onstage for anyone who wants to get their brains blown out. Sincerely, Flea [/quote]

What do you think? Should there be an uproar or are haters gonna hate? Let us know in the comments below.

Report: Bruno Mars To Headline Super Bowl Halftime Show

BrunoMarsThe NFL season has barely gotten underway as the Denver Broncos hosted the reigning champions Baltimore Ravens, but the NFL is already planning the next Super Bowl. While the 32 NFL teams will fight it out over the next several weeks, the NFL is working on the half time entertainer that will follow Beyonce and last season’s Destiny’s Child reunion. A source close to the NFL told the Associated Press that eyes are on Bruno Mars. The official announcement is expected to come Sunday, September 8 at an event in Times Square with the official kick off of the NFL season’s first full Sunday.

The upcoming championship game will be February 2 from East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium. The 27 year old, Mars, is one of music’s biggest stars today. His second album, released last year, includes hits “Locked Out of Heaven,” “When I Was Your Man,” and his latest single, “Treasure.”

Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, & The Killers Bolster THE VOICE Finale

UPDATE: NBC just announced the artists the Top 3 will perform special duets with Tuesday night during The Voice finale. Cassadee Pope will perform side by side with Avril Lavigne, while Team Blake teammate Terry McDermott sings alongside Peter Frampton. Nicholas David of Team Cee Lo will perform with Smokey Robinson.

We’re just under a week away from the third finale of NBC’s hit singing competition, The Voice, and NBC announced some of the headlining megastars that will be taking center stage for the finale. Bolstering the popular competitions finalists – Cassadee Pope, Terry McDermott, and Nicholas David – the show is bringing about a diverse group of artists to keep you entertained throughout the night.

American Idol champ, Kelly Clarkson, will take the stage to perform her single “Catch My Breath” from her Greatest Hits Album, which is in stores now. Joining Clarkson will be R&B star Rihanna performing her hit single “Diamonds.” On the heels of his new album release, Bruno Mars will be on deck to perform his new single “When I Was Your Man” for the first time on television. Finally, rockers The Killers are set to appear and perform.

It’s likely the show’s coaches – Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, and Cee Lo Green – will in some way participate in the show’s festivities and NBC is promising a few more surprise performers along the way. The finale will surely have appearances and group performances featuring contestants who have been a part of the season, as well. The Voice airs it’s performance finale Monday at 8/7c, with a two-hour results finale on Tuesday night!

Who are you most excited to see? Which other artists would you like to see added to the lineup?

Grammy Rehearsals: Day Two

Day one of rehearsals are now behind us, time to move into day two! Here are the updates!

This morning, and just finishing up, we had Rihanna rehearsing her act with Drake. Looks like they will have some sort of “Caveman” theme going on today, with a campfire in the middle of the stage. They have a lot of sexy dancers up there on stage with them, all wearing some pretty skimpy clothes. The choreography was terrific! I have no idea how this coincides with the theme, but there was a big clown wig thing going on today. Maybe just hoping to be incognito? Who knows. (Itsy Bitsy video clip included at the bottom. I know, I need a new phone!)

Coming up next, scheduled at 1:00p, Bruno Mars is in the house! We will update you as we get further along.

Scheduled for 6pm., Cee Lo Green is schedules to rehearse, followed by Katy Perry at 8pm. (All times Pacific.) Stay tuned to the Yak for more updates!  Hopefully I can get some better video as well. Rehearsals are being held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.