Red Hot Chili Peppers, MEN Arena

WHO can believe that the Red Hot Chili Peppers will soon be celebrating their 20th anniversary?

As the charts have recently proved, their following, if anything, has grown stronger and larger over the years and judging by last night's Manchester gig, age has done nothing to dampen their rock and roll tendencies.

The Chilis, fronted by the ever-charismatic Anthony Kiedis, put on an amazing show. The tickets for this By The Way tour sold out rapidly and this enthusiasm and urgency was evident in the crowd.

The band opened, appropriately enough, to By The Way, with a topless Kiedis leaving at least the female half of the audience agog.

Despite the success of their recent tracks, the Chilis were not tempted to wipe the slate clean with their set list. Old favourites such as Give It Away got the standing area jumping, making getting close to the band a dangerous, though worthwhile, experience.

Wild men of rock they may be, but the band were kind enough to try to calm the crowd down so that everyone could enjoy the show safely.

And so we did. Their amazing voices brought out goosebumps, the crowd were going mental, and the band didnt disappoint -- particularly Kiedis who frequently launched into his trademark crazy Kung Foo dancing.

In the end they played for an hour and 40 minutes, which included an amazing version of New Orders Blue Monday, and returned to play an encore of Under The Bridge, leaving an ecstatic crowd exhausted and hoping that the Chilis can keep their magic going for another 20 years.

Sonja Hayes