The Red Hot Chili Peppers after the 2007 Grammy Awards. Photo / Reuters
The Red Hot Chili Peppers after the 2007 Grammy Awards. Photo / Reuters
KEY POINTS:
Red Hot Chili Peppers fans rejoice - the band are returning to New Zealand, five years after they last played here.
The energetic musicians - including frontman Anthony Kiedis and bass player Michael "Flea" Balzary - will play Vector Arena on April 21.
The indoor stadium's 12,000 capacitymeans the gig will be smaller than the estimated 20,000 who flocked to the band at Western Springs in 2002.
And first dibs on tickets go to Visa card-holders, from Wednesday next week.
Public bookings through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.co.nz) open on March 5.
Publicist Bridget de Launay said it was too early to speculate if a second show would be scheduled if the first sold out.
Over the past two decades the band have become one of the world's most popular.
Among the Red Hot Chili Peppers' most recent successes was collecting four awards at last week's Grammys for their latest album, Stadium Arcadium.
The band have produced nine albums and accumulated more than 50 million album sales worldwide.
Their most highly acclaimed output includes the multi-platinum releases Californication (1999) and Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), which carried the classic tracks Breaking the Girl, Give it Away, and Under the Bridge.
Herald entertainment editor Russell Baillie said in a review of the band's 2002 show, on their fourth visit, that the performance was great and the band delivered a show that "did not feel like the usual stadium rock grand gesture".
The Visa Entertainment ticket pre-sale starts at 9am on February 28 at www.visaentertainment.co.nz
