The RHCP Live Archive is the best website on the internet. Picking up where sites like The Side left off, it catalogs every show the band have ever played, and lists every detail we know about that show, including setlists, pictures, tickets, posters, flyers, etc., and even includes downloads.

I must have spent about six hundred hours on there since it launched a few years ago, and I’m planning on spending a lot more time there in the years to come. They’re an indispensable addition to the Chili Peppers community, and a pretty impressive piece of web design that makes my own site look like complete shit in comparison.

Just as an example, in the course of writing this intro, there’s been an update to these two pages. Setlists from nowhere! How lucky are we, twenty-five years later, to still be getting these updates? (Thanks Keith!)

Recently, the RHCPLA have upped their game and included a streaming service to the site, which even works on phones. With around fifty recordings available (so far!) it’s everything I wished existed in years past. And, for someone who rarely (if ever) listens to actual music that isn’t cloud-based, this is really handy (FLAC downloads on a 128 gig laptop aren’t a lot of fun).

And so in honour of the new streaming service, and in honour of the website, in general, here’s an interview with the webmaster, Argentina-based Leandro “Leni” Cabo. Thanks to my Twitter and Facebook and Email followers for sending in some questions.

How and when did you become a fan of the band?

I became a fan of the band in 2000, when the “Californication” video was released - it was everywhere, you couldn’t escape it! A family member lended me a copy of the album and I just loved it. I’d never connected with music this way before in my life. I bought “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” shortly after and that’s it - I was hooked for life!

When did you start working on the site?

I started working on it in mid-2015. Just gathering data, doing some research, getting things in order. I wanted to do something like that for years. The Side was my main source, and they stopped updating the site in 2014. So that’s when I decided it was time to do it.

I worked on it for almost a year and it was finally launched on April 11, 2016 - just in time for The Getaway tour.

What is your “holy grail” item when it comes to the band?

There are many holy grails I’d like to get my hands on. I hope some very early 1983 recordings, especially on video, someday surface (if they even exist). Their first show would be the most obvious choice - but here’s a list of other memorable examples:

Any of the three shows in late 1983 with Dix Denney on guitar.

Any of the September 1988 shows with Blackbyrd McKnight on guitar & D.H. Peligro on drums. A few minutes of footage were broadcast by MTV but were never seen online.

October 5, 1988 - John’s first show ever with the band. Two audience audio recordings are known to exist, but have never surfaced.

May 7, 1992 - John first-last show. This would be very, very interesting to hear/watch as it was described as a very difficult show for the band.

May 30 or 31, 1994 - Dave’s first shows with the band. Both dates were recently discovered and little is known about them. It seems some early versions of “One Hot Minute” songs were premiered.

June 12, 1998 - John’s first comeback show. I’ve heard several times an amateur video might exist, but it has never been confirmed.

October 16, 2002 - There’s no particular reason for this show to be considered a holy grail for fans, except for me. I’m from Argentina and at the time I wasn’t able to attend this show. Audio recordings exist, but watching a video of the performance would mean a lot.

Hyde Park on professional recorded video. Great setting for a show, plus they were on fire during this tour.

August 26, 2007 - John’s last show. Well, not anymore! But that’s what we thought for over a decade.

What is your favourite show? Any performances you’d like to highlight?

Lots. The band’s live history is almost 40 years old - that’s a lot of ground to cover for a band that has had many sound and line-up changes. I always like to encourage people to browse the site and listen to random recordings. No two live performances are the same. But here’s a selection for no particular reason:

May 30, 1983 at China Club, Los Angeles, CA

June 28, 1985 at Mason Jar, Phoenix, AZ

November 26, 1988 at California State University, Long Beach, CA

December 31, 1991 at Cow Palace in Daly City, CA

January 22, 1993 at Hollywood Rock Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

May 14, 1996 at Entertainment Centre in Sydney, Australia

October 6, 1999 at Luna Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina

October 12, 2002 at Estadio do Pacaembu in Sao Paulo, Brazil

July 2, 2005 at Silver Bowl Sport Complex in Las Vegas, NV

June 6, 2007 at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan

October 11, 2011 at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden

November 5, 2013 at Jockey Club in Asunción, Paraguay

January 13, 2019 at Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, CA

What are your plans for the future of the site?

The main plan has always been to keep growing continuously. Discovering new dates, getting our hands on uncirculated recordings and making them available, finding previously unseen pictures.

The current goal is to fix the few bugs still present on the Streaming Platform and to build a large career-spanning catalog of recordings. Who knows what’s coming next - I’m sure I’ll find something!

How is it possible to enter the circle of big traders/fans, and how do you manage to convince the tapers to share their recordings?

Trader circles have been a thing of the past for the last decade now. Usually, you’d get in by taping or getting your hands on a very rare or uncirculating recording, then trading it for other rare recordings and so on. Eventually, your collection would start growing and trading became easier and easier.

Being a trader was no easy task! Psychical media was sent via snail mail. That is CD-Rs, DVD-Rs or even cassette tapes and VHS tapes back in the 90’s. Then sharing files through the internet came along and it became simpler.

I’d say 95% of the tapers usually shared their recordings. Funny thing is that “taping” a show has never been easier - you can do a pretty decent job using just your cellphone’s built-in mic. But every new tour, less and less shows get recorded by fans. I’m sure the release of soundboard recordings are the main reason for that, but it’s still an interesting thought.

Is it true the day that played Federation Square 2007, they played a full show in Melbourne straight after? Had they played 2 shows in 1 night before?

That’s true - although the Federation Square gig is not a Chili Peppers show, as was originally going to be a Chad Smith drum clinic. A few hours before the event, it was announced on TV by Chad himself that the rest of the guys would join him for a jam. After the jam, the guys went right up to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl to play the RHCP show.

They played two shows in the same night a few times back in the 80’s. Usually the “early” show would be for all ages and the “late” show for 18+ audiences:

But understandably, it never happened again when they got popular until one of the very last shows of the “Stadium Arcadium” tour in 2007 when the band played not 2, but 3 shows in less than 24 hours.

July 6 at Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris, France

July 7 at Wembley Stadium for “Live Earth” in London, England

July 7 at Festivalpladsen for “Roskilde Festival” in Roskilde, Denmark

That’s three shows in three different countries in a day’s time. Only 5 hours in between the last two shows - can you imagine how insane the travel logistics had to be for the band’s crew?

What’s the longest setlist/show the band has ever played?

The longest show was 2 hours and 45 minutes on March 22, 2003 at the Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany. The show was a usual “By The Way” tour setlist. But what made this night special was the 40-minute outro jam as the band was joined by Michael Rother and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. They just went on and on - at one point John exclaimed to the audience “You can leave if you want, we’re just gonna play all night”, then sat down with the rest of the guys for an intense jam.

This jam is available to download at the site - the full recording exists, but unfortunately it has never been released by the taper.

The band was actually never keen on playing long shows, with their sets usually going for 80 to 110 minutes (about 15-18 songs). But they were playing up to 120-130min. (19-20 songs including lots of jams) at the 2004 tour.

On the website sometimes it says media of the show is circulating but it can’t be downloaded, why is that?

The main goal of the site is to be an ever-growing encyclopedia-like of every single live performance of the band, holding every kind of media related to it. Flyers, newspaper clipping, ticket scans, pictures, etc. That is also the case with recordings. Every known recording is listed on the site, some of them are circulating, some are not. Sometimes the taper has decided not to release that show, or sometimes they just never entered this digital era and are currently lost in an analog abyss waiting to be finally transferred. Most of the circulating recordings are or have been widely available on the internet at some point. There are currently around 400 audio recordings hosted on the site, but many are still not available for download. Why is that? Well, a) I may not own a copy of that recording, therefore I’m not able to share it and, b) it just didn’t cross my mind to upload that particular recording. But keep in mind that I’m always open to requests and I’ll do my best to fulfill them!

Who’s the most interesting/unexpected/most meaningful person that contributed to the archive? Somone close to the band? One of the guys themselves? Are they aware it exists?

I’ve met some wonderful people from around the globe thanks to the site. Just to name a few - Mark M., Rene M., Jonathas F. and of course, the one in charge of this exceptional newsletter, Hamish - whom actually I’ve known for the longest time, even before the site was a simple idea in my mind. With their help, over 100 previously unknown gig dates were discovered from the 80’s in the recent months.

I’ve never been in touch with someone from or close to the band. I do not believe they’re aware the site exists - but who knows! Would certainly love to hear what they think about it.

Thanks again to Leni for his time, and thanks to everyone who sent questions in. Be sure to take a look around the site if you haven’t already, and dive deep into a rabbit-hole or two. One of my favourite things to do is look at random shows - that’s where most of the pictures from the letter are from - just to get a sense of the vast variety of formations that this band has gone through.

I almost forgot. There’s also a Frusciante-specific section to the site, for those of you who are into his solo work, and the years when he used to play live!

I hope you’re all well and staying safe and being sensible and all that. One more thing. If you haven’t seen them already, Mark M. (mentioned above) has put together a few “quarantine party” compilations; hand-made and edited concerts, a sort of live greatest hits. They’re a load of fun. You can hear them here.

See you next month.

H.