Flea seems to be having a great time right now. Earlier this year, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist released Honora, the trumpet-based jazz album that he's been meaning to make forever. He assembled a team of jazz greats to record the LP, and now they're joining him on tour. On Tuesday night, Flea and his band played London, and they were joined by Flea's old friend and collaborator Thom Yorke.
Once upon a time, Flea was a member of Yorke's band Atoms For Peace. On Honora, the Radiohead frontman reunited with Flea for the single "Traffic Lights." When Flea and his band came to the London venue KOKO last night, Yorke joined them for the live debut of "Traffic Lights." That was the second song of the evening, and they stretched it out to nearly 10 minutes. Flea switched back and forth between bass and trumpet during the song. Yorke appeared to play his Radiohead bandmate Ed O'Brien's signature Stratocaster. Also, I thought he was wearing a kilt at first, but I'm pretty sure it was just some really flouncy shorts.
At the end of the show, Yorke returned to the stage to for a cover of "Got To Give It Up," the twitchy soul-disco classic that Marvin Gaye took to #1 in 1977. (When Robin Thicke tried to evoke that song's groove on "Blurred Lines," Gaye's family successfully sued him, which has led to all sorts of copyright-law complications.) Yorke went full falsetto mode on the cover, and Flea and his band stretched the song out to epic length. Previously, Atoms For Peace covered that same song at a 2013 show in London. Watch some fan videos of Yorke and Flea performing together below.
