Red Hot Chili Peppers: In Performance

Deceptive packaging, poor quality production values, badly written narration, and an unnecessarily high price tag characterize Red Hot Chili Peppers: In Performance. Presented in a hardcover book-like wrapper that combines the DVD with a poorly-written 72-page booklet, the set promises "a detailed biography of the band, rare color photographs, and an experts [sic] analysis of every studio album." What we actually see, however, is an hour-long breakdown of RHCP's dynamic performance on the last night of the 1994 Woodstock Festival, presented in washed-out, blurry bootleg video, accompanied by bland, almost hopelessly uninformative "expert analysis" by a pair of semi-obscure British music critics, coupled with breathless fanboy narration marked by fawning exclamations of rock 'n roll idol worship. The booklet contains only a few photos, and the "every studio album” analysis ends with 2002's By The Way, making no mention of 2006's Stadium Arcadium. Yes, this was obviously produced by bona-fide Chili lovers (and some of the commentary is relevant), and the performance clips do make a strong case that the '94 Woodstock performance was a genuine milestone in RHCP history (and not only because it was guitarist Dave Navarro's first public appearance after he replaced original guitarist John Frusciante), but this is shoddy work overall on many different levels. Not recommended. Aud: P. (J. Shannon)