Red Hot Chili Pepppers’ bassist Flea has given fans an explanation for his band’s miming at Sunday’s Superbowl half-time show.
Responding to claims that he and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer’s guitars were not plugged in for their performance of ‘Give It Away’ in for which they were joined by Bruno Mars, Flea stated: “I understand the NFL’s stance on this.”
“Given they only have a few minutes to set up the stage, there’s a zillion things that could go wrong and ruin the sound for the folks watching in the stadium and the TV viewers.”
Whilst Singer Anthony Kiedis’s vocals were performed live, Flea, Klinghoffer and drummer Chad Smith played with backing tracks.
Explaining their choice to leave the instruments uplugged, he said: “We thought it better to not pretend… The Red Hot Chili Peppers stance on any sort of miming has been that we will absolutely not do it.”
On being given the opportunity to play the Superbowl gig, he stated: “When this Super Bowl gig concept came up, there was a lot of confusion among 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.”
He also revealed what happened the last time they mimed, the band getting kicked out of Top Of The Pops rehearsals for not taking it seriously: “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.”
Concluding his online statement, Flea said: “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.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers are set to headline this year’s Isle Of White festival, their first UK festival appearance since 2007. Have a look at ticket news here!
