Flea Celebrates 50th Birthday With Red Hot Chili Peppers Backyard Concert

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are getting old. What better way to celebrate a mid-century birthday for one of the band’s members than a backyard gig? On Tuesday, Flea opted to spend his 50th birthday playing with his band to raise money for the school run by the famous bass player, the Silver Lake Conservatory. The house gig occured at Flea's home in Los Feliz, and the extravaganza also sported an auction as well as the band Rancid's music.

Flea opened the Silver Lake Conservatory 11 years ago, and before the gig, he told Rolling Stone Magazine it’s the best thing he has going in his life. Therefore, it’s no surprise the musician would want to spend the his big day working to help the school he has founded. The Rancid performance is also no surprise—apparently, singer Tim Armstrong is a big fan of the school and offered a ton of help in support.

The magazine also noted the auction was a big hit, sporting a piece by Banksy as well as another piece from famed Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. After the auction, the Red Hit Chili Peppers took the stage at 10:30 and played an intimate 9-song set, including a cover of “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.” It sounds like Flea put in a ton of work for an event that is generally supposed to be a relaxing, safe-to-be-selfish sort of day, and if his intense work for his charity doesn’t show the type of person he is, I don’t know what could.