Red Hot Chili Peppers And Queens Kick Off Tour, Peppers Provide Music For NBA Playoff

05/06/2003 7:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
LAUNCH Radio Networks

(5/6/03, 7 a.m. ET) -- Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queens Of The Stone Age, and Mars Volta kicked off their tour Thursday (May 1) at St. Paul, Minnesota's Xcel Center. The Chili Peppers put on their usual great show, but they playfully jabbed at the crowd when it came to basketball.

The Peppers are huge NBA fans, and the band's favorite team, the Los Angeles Lakers, had just eliminated the hometown team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, in the NBA Playoffs that night. Drummer Chad Smith wore the jersey of Minnesota's star player Kevin Garnett. During a break in the set he slipped it off, revealing a golden Los Angeles jersey with Lakers' star Kobe Bryant on the back. After boos from the crowd, Smith held up the Garnett jersey and put it back on.

Red Hot Chili Peppers' hit "Can't Stop" is featured in 30-second commercials for the NBA's "Love It Live" playoff campaign. The commercial features members of various playoff teams making spectacular moves on the court.

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