Anthony Kiedis: I run, stretch and wrestle Flea before a show

Anthony Kiedis
Anthony Kiedis (Image credit: Getty)

Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis says he’ll “run, stretch and wrestle Flea” to get stage-ready before a gig.

The frontman also says he has a special diet and holds group bonding sessions with his bandmates before each show to “get on the same wavelength.”

He tells Rolling Stone: “The physicality of our shows is such, that there’s no way you’re gonna make that happen without preparation – you can’t go from 0 to 100 miles per hour without preparing. Because I sing loud for two hours during a show, I have to spend a lot of time getting my voice together with the right food and right warm-ups, and then I have to run, stretch and do push-ups or wrestle Flea or something to get my blood flowing.”

He continues: “There’s also a certain headspace that you have to get into. We all kind of gravitate towards one room, 15 minutes before we go on and listen to music together to get on the same wavelength.

“It could be anything – Funkadelic, Patti Smith. Everyone has to have their bones, tissues and their thoughts warm, stimulated and together, for us to get on the stage and get off on the right foot.”

Kiedis says that the band can’t just turn up late and go straight onstage – as he admits that it “literally takes hours to get ready.”

He adds: “Sometimes you’re more ready than others – sometimes there’s nerves, sometimes something bad happens right before you go on.

“You could be sick, you could be hurt, you could be upset, you could be in a fight with your girlfriend, or maybe you didn’t get any sleep. You have to get it together for that moment and put it all aside.”

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are currently touring Europe in support of their 11th album The Getaway, due out on June 17.

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Getaway tracklist

  1. The Getaway
  2. Dark Necessities
  3. We Turn Red
  4. The Longest Wave
  5. Goodbye Angels
  6. Sick Love
  7. Go Robot
  8. Feasting on the Flowers
  9. Detroit
  10. This Ticonderoga
  11. Encore
  12. The Hunter
  13. Dreams of a Samurai

Red Hot Chili Peppers tour dates 2016

Jun 30-Jul 03: Roskilde Festival, Netherlands
Jun 30-Jul 03: Gdynia Open’er Festival, Poland
Jul 02: Werchter Rock Werchter, Belgium
Jul 09: Moscow Park Live Festival, Russia
Jul 10: Kinross T In The Park, UK
Jul 15: Ottawa Ontario At Bluesfest, ON
Jul 16: Quebec Festival d’ete de Quebec, QC
Jul 22: Jisan valley Rock Festival, South Korea
Jul 29: Osheaga Quebec At Osheaga, QC
Aug 25: Belfast Tennent’s Vital, UK
Aug 26: Reading Festival, UK
Aug 27: Leeds Festival, UK

Why Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers threw a bottle at my head

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.