By The Way - By The Way Tour

By The Way Tour

Flea was still upset over the problems he had with John during the making of the album. Flea felt that John was trying to take over the band and that he could no longer express himself in the context of the band. Flea decided that he would finish the album but quit prior to their tour. According to Chad, Flea and Frusciante eventually had a sit-down meeting with each other to air out their differences. Frusciante had no idea how Flea was feeling and had no intentions of taking over the band. Flea also credited practicing Vipassanā meditation along with Frusciante for helping the two repair their musical relationship. With their problems worked out, the band launched their promo tour to support the album on New York City's Ellis Island. Sponsored by the rock radio station K-Rock, the event was titled the "Pep Rally". The band performed eight songs from By the Way, as well as tracks from Californication and Blood Sugar Sex Magik in front of 900 contest winners. The New York Post declared the show "one of the top concerts of the year." The location was chosen in order to reinvigorate lower Manhattan after the September 11, 2001 attacks and all proceeds were donated to pertinent charity organizations. Immediately following this, the Chili Peppers embarked on a world tour to support the album. Beginning in Europe, they also played at events such as the Fuji Rock Festival and Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in between. The band eventually culminated their Europe leg of the tour in February 2003, and commenced the United States leg on May 1. The Chili Peppers played at Madison Square Garden in New York City on June 3, 2003 to a sold-out crowd and an enthusiastic response from critics. Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times reported that "on Tuesday night, the came to Madison Square Garden for an extraordinary two-hour performance...On 'Don't Forget Me', strummed chords, while Mr. Frusciante contributed a gorgeous guitar line that bubbled and hissed like some sort of chemical reaction." The US leg ended on June 21; the band took a small hiatus before performing at Slane Castle on August 23, to a crowd of over 80,000. Live at Slane Castle, the result of the concert, would become the Chili Peppers' second live DVD, after Off the Map.

Following several Japanese and Australian performances, the Red Hot Chili Peppers planned three nights at London's Hyde Park. Over 240,000 tickets were sold within hours, with roughly 80,000 people attending each show on June 19, 20, and 25, respectively. It became the highest grossing concert at a single venue in history, accumulating an estimated $17 million gross revenue. Due to the success of the three shows, the band released their first live album Live in Hyde Park in Europe, Australia, Japan and New Zealand, excluding the United States. Later that year, the Chili Peppers played for the 2004 Democratic National Convention in support of their political beliefs, with Kiedis saying "Do what you gotta do" at the end of the band's set. Finally, they played at the Rock am Ring festival as one of the final performances of the By the Way tour.

In 2006, Flea revealed that he once again considered leaving the band whilst touring in support of the album, stating that "throughout the By the Way tour I would play a show and then go and sit on the end of my bed staring into space." He planned to teach full-time at the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, but ultimately decided to remain within the band. Flea later stated that "the most painful part of quitting, and the thing that stopped me, was the idea of telling Anthony."