Red Hot Chili Peppers Close Out Day One of Orion Music + More in Detroit

It seemed appropriate that the Red Hot Chili Peppers closed out the first day of Orion Music + More at Belle Isle in Detroit. After all, half the members are Michigan natives. The rock and roll hall of famers went through a two hour set Saturday night (June 8) that was energetic from beginning to end.

Chili Peppers singer and Grand Rapids' own Anthony Kiedis seemed to be ecstatic that he was back in the Mitten State. "Detroit," the youthful 50-year-old screamed. "It has a nice ring to it. It's got a certain tonality to it. Detroit!"

The band's set included their whole archive so far, including classics like "Under the Bridge," Soul to Squeeze," "Suck My Kiss," and "Give It Away" just to name a few. RHCP also performed tracks from their most recent album, I'm With You, with songs like "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" and "Look Around" being just as embraced from the crowd. Bassist Flea once again showed his impressive upper body strength by doing hand stands across the stage. Drummer and West Bloomfield, MI son Chad Smith busted out the obligatory solo that never gets old.

The other big highlight was of course Metallica performing their 1983 studio debut Kill 'Em All in its entirety during a surprise set at the smaller Vans Damage Inc stage. You can get the details here if you somehow missed out on that news.

We also enjoyed a blistering set from Chicago, IL punk rockers Rise Against. Even though it's been less than a year since we saw them at The Orbit Room in Grand Rapids last September, their live shows still give us goosebumps. Lead singer Tim McIlrath was another artist who showed his appreciation for Michigan, recalling shows the band played at Detroit venues like The Shelter, Saint Andrew's Hall, Clutch Cargos and more.

The biggest problem with huge music festivals like Orion is that some of your favorite bands could be playing at the same time. That's exactly what happened yesterday when U.K. indie rockers Foals and Los Angeles, CA buzz band Dead Sara were both on different stages simultaneously. We caught the first 30 minutes of Foals, who seemed to turn a lot of heads at Belle Isle. Then we checked out the last half of Dead Sara's set. Vocalist Emily Armstrong is one of the most powerful singers today and she continued to prove that at Orion. We interviewed both bands yesterday that will be posted shortly.

Bring on Day 2 of Orion Music + More!

Watch Red Hot Chili Peppers Perform "Under the Bridge" at Orion Music + More

Follow Dave Kim on Twitter: @davekim83