Here’s what to expect from Red Hot Chili Peppers’ setlist at their concerts in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Japan

American rock icons Red Hot Chili Peppers are returning to New Zealand, Australia and Asia real soon – here’s what their setlists at their highly anticipated shows could look like.

• READ MORE: Red Hot Chili Peppers – ‘Return Of The Dream Canteen’ review: an overwhelming feast

Anthony Kiedis and co. will kick off their tour in Auckland on Saturday (January 21) before moving on to Dunedin on January 28 and Brisbane the following day. The quartet will then perform in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to wrap up their Australia and New Zealand leg of the tour before taking on Singapore – their only gig in Southeast Asia – and then two dates in Japan.

These are not-to-be-missed shows for Chili Peppers fans: Besides being the first shows in the region to feature fan-favourite guitarist John Frusciante since his initial exit from the band in 2009, fans will also bear witness to live performances of several new songs from the Peppers’ two 2022 albums. (Post Malone tagging along for the entire Australia and New Zealand run shouldn’t hurt, either.)

But what about the classics? What about rarities? Below, we break down what Australasia fans can expect given the band’s ever-changing setlist.

The classics

Based on setlists from Red Hot Chili Peppers’ most recent concerts, fans can expect to hear the band run the gamut of hits and classics like ‘Can’t Stop’ alongside ‘Dani California’, ‘Snow (Hey Oh)’, ‘Californication’, ‘Scar Tissue’, ‘Give It Away’, ‘Suck My Kiss’, ‘Right On Time’, ‘Me & My Friends’ and more.

The newbies

Following the 2022 release of their back-to-back albums ‘Unlimited Love’ and ‘Return of the Dream Canteen’, fans can expect to hear some tracks from these records played at the upcoming shows. These could include ‘Return Of The Dream Canteen’’s ‘Tippa My Tongue’, ‘The Drummer’ and ‘Fake As Fuck’ – all of which were given their live debuts at the band’s most recent performance at iHeartRadio ALTer EGO on January 14.

Other tracks from ‘Unlimited Love’ that could be performed live, based on RHCP’s most recent concerts, include ‘The Heavy Wing’ and ‘Here Ever After’.

The rarities

While the Chili Peppers are known for hits like ‘Californication’, ‘Snow (Hey Oh)’ and ‘Can’t Stop’, the band are also celebrated for their rarities – the songs they play only once in a blue moon. Given the band’s discography that spans nearly four decades and a penchant for ever-changing setlists, gig-goers could potentially see a handful of rarities thrown around during the course of the tour. Some favourites fans would no doubt love to hear are ‘Under The Bridge’ (which was seemingly removed from their 2022 tour), ‘Higher Ground’ and ‘Get Up And Jump’, among a plethora of other songs that haven’t been played in ages.

The Frusciante specials

Frusciante’s return was announced in December 2019, but RHCP haven’t gotten the chance to tour extensively with him given the COVID-19 pandemic that broke out early 2020. Now that live music’s back in full swing across the globe and Frusciante’s properly back with the band, fans can expect to see him deliver some juicy solos and play some of his own key Chili Peppers compositions. Shoo-ins are ‘Under The Bridge’ and ‘Scar Tissue’, but other possibilities are ‘Magic Johnson’, ‘If You Have To Ask’, ‘Around The World’, ‘Universally Speaking’ and ‘Hump de Bump’.

The covers

Red Hot Chili Peppers also enjoy the occasional cover, recently performing the opening verse and chorus of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, their favourites of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Higher Ground’ and Loggins & Messina’s ‘Danny’s Song’ and The Ramones’ ‘I Remember You’. While the band have most recently only performed ‘Danny’s Song’, fans can probably expect ‘Higher Ground’ to be aired at some point, given that it’s the band’s most popular cover to date.

The recent setlists

Check out Red Hot Chili Peppers’ last recorded festival setlist at the Kia Forum in Inglewood for iHeartRadio ALTer EGO on January 14:

‘Intro Jam’
‘Fake As Fuck’ (Live debut)
‘Black Summer’
‘Snow (Hey Oh)’
‘Aquatic Mouth Dance’
‘Californication’
‘The Drummer’ (Live debut)
‘Danny’s Song’ (Loggins & Messina Cover)
John Frusciante Solo
‘Tippa My Tongue’ (Live Debut)
‘By The Way’

Additionally, check out Red Hot Chili Peppers’ last recorded setlist for a headlining concert, which took place in Austin, Texas on October 16 below.

‘Intro Jam’
‘Around The World’
‘Dani California’
‘Universally Speaking’
‘Danny’s Song’ (Loggins & Messina Cover)
‘Snow (Hey Oh)’
‘Eddie’
‘Me & My Friends’
‘I Could Have Lied’
‘Suck My Kiss’
‘The Heavy Wing’
‘Black Summer’
‘Californication’
‘What Is Soul?’ (Funkadelic Cover)
‘Give It Away’

Encore:
‘Soul To Squeeze’
‘By The Way’

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