So here it goes. (This is copied directly out of my notebook.)

The concert was AWESOME!! I'm writing about it in my notebook so I can put as many details in before I forget. The band was about fifteen minutes late coming out (figures), so they started at around 10:45. They opened with "By the Way," just as they should have (rule of thumb that every band opens with the first track off their most recent album). The crowd was insane--and a little scary. But it didn't matter. Actually, before they came out, I got smacked in the face with a flying beer cup. It was relatively empty, but gross, unpleasant, and a bit painful just the same. The people directly surrounding me were nice, though. Very funny and good natured. I thought all the cigarette smoke in Vegas was really going to make me sick, but I was actually fine. That's a first. But a welcome first, nonetheless. RHCP had such a fabulous set list: a perfect mix of new stuff, Californication stuff, and BSSM stuff. Unfortunately, they refuse to play anything off One Hot Minute (except for "Pea") because according to Anthony, "it was a hard time." Oh, well. They didn't play "Pea" this time, though.

Chad entered the stage first, wearing a navy blue garbage man-style jumper thing with the sleeves torn off and the front unbuttoned a bit. And of course, a hat (backwards, no less). John came out next with unruly, but beautiful, long brown hair in his face. He wasn�t wearing any kind of special outfit�just an adidas shirt and jeans. Flea entered the stage next wearing SUCH an awesome outfit, comprised of tighty-whities (what a surprise, huh?), orange knee-high socks, and a matching orange beanie. So typically Flea. They started jamming, and a minute or so later, Anthony flew out onto the stage wearing black pants with rainbow striping down the sides, cut off a little below the knees and �MARS� written across the ass. I�m inspired to make �VENUS� pants now, haha. Oh, and he was wearing a wife beater, too, which he later sexily ripped off. Mmm. The girl next to me was ogling with me.

They had the crowd in such a riot. I was squished so much at some points that I actually had trouble breathing. Ah, well, it was totally worth it. I was only about two people back from the very very front. I stupidly wore open-toed shoes, which meant my feet were crunched a few times, but surprisingly less than I had anticipated.

Speaking of anticipations, I never would have guessed my first kiss with a girl would be at a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in Las Vegas, with a girl whose name I didn�t even know, but life will throw you some interesting firsts. There was this kinda drunk (but hot) chick next to me in the crowd, and during �Suck My Kiss,� she turned around and grabbed David and kissed him and then turned back and looked at me like she wanted to kiss me, so I let her. Pretty wild. I wasn�t even sure if she�d kissed David or not until he told me after the show. He said that she just kinda grabbed him and kissed him before he had time to react and that he was a bit worried I might think something was up, but that he figured it was okay after she�d kissed me. I didn�t care, I just thought it was cool. Pretty decent kisser, too. Poor girl had to be taken by security guards later though, because the alcohol was getting to her. She was tiny, so she probably had a low tolerance. David said he could taste the drunkness, but I thought she tasted minty. Whatever.

They played �I Could Have Lied� and the crowd mellowed out a bit. Nice to have swaying instead of jumping. I held David�s lighter up. You could tell who were the true fans because they were the ones singing along to every word of every song. As David put it, �The real fans were the ones that were singing to �Right on Time,� and not just the chorus.� Oh yeah, I was!

John and Flea did lots of little jams, which were awesome. They really got into it. I love when musicians really get into what they�re playing�you know, when they look like they�re getting such a high of off playing.

Flea said something that was really cool. He said, �No more war in the new year. No wars with countries, no wars with friends. No more war. We don�t need that.� Yeah man. When he first came out, Anthony said, �Someone�s gonna get pregnant tonight�� Haha. They all have their funny quirks when they play, too. Like Chad just makes really funny faces (he kinda puches up his lips like a monkey) or sings along. Or both. Anthony closes his eyes when he sings, but when there�s a break in the song, he just stares off blankly into the crowd. A deer-in-headlights type of look. And then he just snaps out of it and starts singing again. John just makes a really intense face when he plays, though it�s kind of hard to see his face since it�s usually covered up with his hair. And Flea grins at people, or stares at them, or makes goofy faces to get the audience to smile.

They brought in the new year with �Give it Away,� which I thought was very appropriate.

Beforehand, Anthony did a very un-rock star like thing: he had been spinning around during a song and lost control, crashing into the platform Chad was on. He knocked down a few cups of water�so during the next song, he got some towels and mopped it up while singing. It was cool that he didn�t act like a typical asshole-type rock star that would call his minions or groupies over to clean it up.

Toward the end of the show, there were some crowd surfers, but people just kinda sent them into the security guards, who would pull them over the barrier and out of the pit. Among the crowd surfers there was also and inflatable life-sized doll of a naked woman, complete with penetrable genital, anal, and oral apertures, as well as stimulated nipples. When the band came back for their encore, Chad grabbed the doll (which had since made its way up onto the stage), and propped it up behind his set to face the audience. Then, Chad, John, and Flea started playing �Under the Bridge,� but Anthony was taking so long to get his ass back out onto the stage, that by the time he did, they stopped playing it and started playing �Venice Queen.� Don�t get me wrong, I love that song and was very pleased that they played it�but I would�ve liked to see them perform �Under the Bridge.� I had David�s lighter ready and everything. Oh well.

At the end of the show, I almost caught hold of one of Chad�s drumsticks, but the bitch in front of me pushed me with her big ass so she could get a better grip on it. As David put it, �Oh yeah, the fat one that kept trying to crowd surf.� Haha. I saved one of the balloons they dropped at midnight, though.

All in all, the evening was one of the best of my life, and undoubtedly the best New Years.

Infinite thank yous, David =).

before - after