As our own Jody Rosen pointed out, there wasn’t a ton of outrage surrounding the public’s realization that the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ instruments weren’t plugged in during the Super Bowl halftime show. There must have been some outrage, however, because Flea posted a substantial essay addressing RHCP’s decision to faux-play over a prerecorded track. “We decided that, with Anthony singing live, that we could still bring the spirit and freedom of what we do into the performance, and of course we played every note in the recording specially for the gig,” the bassist explained on the band’s site today. Said Flea, “Could we have plugged them in and avoided bumming people out who have expressed disappointment that the instrumental track was pre recorded? Of course easily we could have and this would be a non-issue. We thought it better to not pretend.” See? The Red Hot Chili Peppers would rather tell you the truth about the halftime show they played with Bruno Mars than let you live a lie about the halftime show they played with Bruno Mars. Just don’t let us find out those were holographic nude torsos projected onto their bodies. Let us have our beautiful delusion.
