Red NOT Chili Peppers take their tribute show to seven network markets

The long-running Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute plays Virginia in November, then Texas and California in January.

Somewhere in the crowd at every one of these shows, someone will yell for "Under the Bridge" before the band has even plugged in. That's the deal with a good tribute act, and Red NOT Chili Peppers have been making it since 2009.

The band is a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute, not the band itself, and it has seven dates in On at 8 markets over the next few months. Two are this coming week in Virginia; the rest are a January swing through Texas and California.

Thursday, November 5: The Southern, Charlottesville. 8 p.m., $27.65. A 300-capacity room, the smallest of the run.

Saturday, November 7: Ember Music Hall, Richmond. 6:30 p.m. start, 450 capacity. Tickets through Ember Music Hall.

Thursday, January 7: Antone's, Austin. 8 p.m., $33.85, with Lips Speak Louder opening, per Ticketmaster. About 400 capacity.

Friday, January 8: House of Blues, Houston. 7 p.m., $19.90 to $118. 1,800 capacity.

Saturday, January 9: House of Blues, Dallas. 7 p.m., $21 to $132.75. At 2,500 capacity, the biggest room on the list.

Friday, January 15: House of Blues, Anaheim (Orange County). 7 p.m., $21. 2,200 capacity.

Saturday, January 16: The Ritz, San Jose. 7 p.m., $25.73 to $520.90. 500 capacity.

The band started in Ocean Beach in San Diego, according to the San Diego Reader, more or less in response to a Craigslist ad posted by bassist and Flea stand-in Jonathan Savage. The lineup has changed over the years. Lineups shift often, so check the band's current roster if a particular player matters to you.

Two Virginia club nights this week, then three House of Blues rooms and a Texas club and a California club in January.

The rooms tell you how the tour works. The Southern and Ember are the Virginia club nights, close and loud. The three House of Blues dates show what a tribute act this established can draw: rooms between 1,800 and 2,500 on back-to-back weekend nights in Houston and Dallas, then Anaheim. Antone's in Austin and The Ritz in San Jose sit in between, mid-size clubs where the crowd is right up against the stage.

Note the start times. Ember's is 6:30, and all three House of Blues shows and The Ritz are listed at 7 p.m., so these are early nights, not midnight sets. Plan dinner around them.

Tribute shows are about the songs. Nobody's pretending it's 1991 or that Anthony Kiedis is about to walk out. But a room full of people singing along to songs they love, played by a band that has made this its job for more than fifteen years, is a perfectly good Saturday night. Several of them are on the calendar.

Sources: Red NOT Chili Peppers tickets and tour dates (Ticketmaster) (ticketmaster.com); Red NOT Chili Peppers events (Live Nation) (livenation.com); Red Not Chili Peppers (San Diego Reader) (sandiegoreader.com); Elevation 27 – alternative (elevation27.com); Red NOT Chili Peppers tour listing (Event Tickets Center) (eventticketscenter.com)