Chili Peppers show their staying power at all-ages show

Once seemingly destined to implode, the Red Hot Chili Peppers survived youthful excesses to become one of rock's last remaining multi-generational bands.

At the sold-out Allstate Arena on Tuesday, they played to a house filled with fans spanning the decades: Some who go back to the elemental Me-Tarzan, You-Jane punk-funk '80s; others who embraced them as among the first of the Lollapalooza-era headliners in the early '90s; and newer listeners who know the band as Grammy-endorsed commercial-radio balladeers.

It was the latter incarnation that dominated the performance. The quartet was in fine form physically and musically. Chad Smith is a middle-age surf dude slamming away on drums with his flipped-back baseball cap. The bare-chested Flea is a hunch-backed virtuoso whose fingers spider-walked up and down his bass. And the beatific, bearded John Frusciante conjures bands of gypsies on his guitar and falsetto angels with his backing harmonies. He also gave a surprising solo vocal on the Shirelles' 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.' Anthony Kiedis isn't much of a poet, and as a singer he exudes a kind of blank Keanu Reaves-style charm; depth is not his forte. But he's a magnetic stage presence, and he's now successfully selling vulnerability and big melodies instead of the chaotic aggression that was once the Chili Peppers' forte. He sent the big choruses of 'Snow (Hey Oh),' 'Dani California,' 'By the Way,' 'Scar Tissue' and 'Californication' into the balconies, their status as new classic-rock anthems affirmed by the audience's enthusiastic response.

Yet the most memorable moments weren't the efficiently performed songs but the instrumental dynamics, particularly when Frusciante cut loose. 'Throw Away Your Television' was framed by Flea's agitated groove and Frusciante's raging coda, and the running dialogue between the two transformed 'Don't Forget Me' from an eerie dirge into a firefight. Each time the guitarist bum-rushed a song, he did not arrive gently. He made it personal, and he left his mark on an otherwise professionally executed show.