The careers of Radiohead and Red Hot Chili Peppers have always drawn comparisons, as their timelines are roughly similar. Both bands formed in the mid-1980’s, and rose to prominence with their unique brand of music during the 1990’s. While the bands play a very different style of music, their fans come from roughly the same age demographic. Both bands even headlined Bonnaroo back in 2012, though their performances were quite distinct in time and place.
The worlds of these two iconic bands merged over the weekend, during a recent Chili Peppers’ performance at Unipol Arena in Bologna, Italy. Guitarist Josh Klinghoffer was given a moment to perform solo during the RHCP performance, and broke out into a verse from the recently-released Radiohead song “Spectre.” The song was not on Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool album, but was actually written for the James Bond movie of the same name. While the filmmakers ultimately chose the song “Writing’s On The Wall” by Sam Smith, the Radiohead song has nonetheless become a fan favorite among Radiohead enthusiasts.
Interestingly, Klinghoffer’s solo take marks the first annotated live performance of “Spectre.” You can watch the intimate moment below.
Red Hot Chili Peppers continue their tour of Europe with two shows in Turin, Italy beginning tonight. The band also announced an extensive winter 2017 tour in the U.S., with support from Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. You can see that tour schedule here.