For more than forty years, Michael “Flea” Balzary has been ploughing through the shifting tides of rock history at its frontline. With his debut solo jazz album, Honora, Flea is paying tribute to his childhood heavily influenced by his jazz-musician stepfather. Flea recalls his unstable childhood with an abusive stepfather “scary” but he also reminisces: “When I saw him and his musician buddies set up in the living room to play bebop with such emotion and physicality, it changed my life forever.” The one-off London show featuring the album wasn’t just a Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s detour from his day job; it was a deeply serious, vulnerable attempt to step outside his comfort zone to explore his roots.
At a sold-out KOKO in London, a venue with a capacity of just 1,500 people, the bassist stepped onto a minimally lit stage wearing a jacket, instantly shrinking the room into a quiet, ambient sanctuary, making a stark contrast to the summertime heat and hectic street noise of Camden outside. The performance masterfully balanced graceful and dynamic physical expression. His bass and trumpet gently and mystically crooned in the unreleased opener ‘Goodnight Darius’ and ‘Frailed’ with Warren Ellis from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. When the tone got tense with the dynamic ‘A Plea’ and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke joining the stage for the ticking and spiralling track ‘Traffic Lights,’ the bassist shifted gears. He moved across the stage with spontaneous, emotional and sharp choreography and gave fans his signature stage move. Flea delivered a misty, floating wall of sound in a dense venue and engulfed the crowd into an almost complete silence—a rare, intimate spectacle you would never catch at his usual stadium shows with Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
What resonated most, however, was Flea’s absolute lack of rockstar ego. Flea assembled an all-star modern jazz band for this project featuring guitarist Jeff Parker, saxophonist/keyboardist Josh Johnson, drummer Deantoni Parks, and bassist Anna Butterss. Rather than dominating the spotlight, Flea respected every musician on stage and locked in constant eye contact with them, communicated through music, and served the groove. Flea even shared his story of reaching out to Butterss and learning from her to “get better at playing the bass.”
The colourfully curated genre-blind setlist effortlessly bridged eras, flowing from an instrumental jazz reimagining of Frank Ocean’s ‘Thinkin Bout You’ and a blistering trumpet and bass cover of Funkadelic’s ‘Maggot Brain’, to Jimmy Webb’s classic ‘Wichita Lineman.’ The undeniable climax arrived when Yorke rejoined the ensemble for a joyful and groovy cover of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got to Give It Up.’
In a few words spoken from an instrumental-driven show, Flea’s words to the crowd were simple, raw yet universal. At the end of the show, he kindly invited the audience to sing along: “We’re alive, just for a while, soon we’ll die, and that will be great. So let’s love everything away today.” From the show, the audience witnessed Flea’s genuine love and belief in the power of music as a universal language. For an artist who found his place in music, this is an act of returning the favour. He keeps learning from the old and the new, and continues his quest to “follow the light” of music and enlighten people about its beauty.
Photos: Yuki Fujiwara
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