Mother's Milk - Mother's Milk Tour and Aftermath

Mother's Milk Tour and Aftermath

Mother's Milk instantly garnered more attention than the band's previous records and, as such, the venues the band performed in were able to accommodate far larger crowds. For the first time the band also upgraded to a full-fledged tour bus and added backup musicians and singers. Longtime friend, Keith "Tree" Barry was added to play horns and backup singers Kristen Vigard and Vickie Calhoun (who appeared in the video for "Knock Me Down") also joined the tour. When the band hit England, roadie Robbie Allen (nicknamed Rob Rule) would open for the band providing a comedy performance in which he would pretend to cut off his own penis. Allen would later become one of the band's backup singers on the One Hot Minute tour. The album's official launch, however, was held in New York City at a club called Tramps; following this, Red Hot Chili Peppers embarked on an introductory European tour which included a free show in Amsterdam's Dam Square that attracted over 10,000 attendees. On September 8, 1989 the band commenced their North American leg in Seattle. The leg saw an overwhelmingly positive response from critics across the country; following a concert in Portland, journalist John Foyston of The Oregonian noted the "Hollywood-based quartet fomented an audience reaction that had to be seen to be believed. The stage-divers started rushing the stage from the moment the band walked on. Once on stage, it was an issue of luck and chutzpah." Todd Caudle of the Colorado Springs newspaper The Gazette said the Chili Peppers' performance at the Colorado Indoor Sports Complex was "the kind of place where kids could be kids, and no one cared if soft drinks stuck to the floor and the rafters shook with a stunning barrage of decibels. People in the audience, steeped in sweat and pressing against the barricade in front of the stage, threw their arms up in unison and barked out approval of one fast, furiously-played song after another."

By the end of the leg, the band members were having trouble adjusting to their new found fame as virtually every concert on the tour was sold out and Mother's Milk approached 500,000 units sold. Spin reported that following a show in Atlanta, Flea invited a woman to his hotel room for sexual intercourse, but locked himself in the bathroom upon arriving because all he could think of were his wife and daughter. Kiedis ended a two-year long relationship with actress Ione Skye, and Frusciante, looking back on the tour years later, admitted, "I was totally abusing the situation partying and screwing a bunch of girls. At 19, I might have looked like a stud but I was a weakling inside. I wasn't proud of who I was then." Shortly before the end of the North American leg, the band filmed a performance at the Long Beach Arena, which was released as Psychedelic Sexfunk Live from Heaven in 1990. A concert at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium on New Year's Eve 1989 attracted over 10,000 attendees and was considered by band photographer Tony Woolliscroft to be "the biggest I had seen them play at that point. It gave me a handle on how hard the band had worked in the USA in the years prior to this." The tour continued in the United Kingdom, where the band was receiving less attention; Kiedis complained after several shows there, "We're huge in the States and it's sort of frustrating and confusing that no one knows who we are here." It was not until after their return from the UK that "Taste the Pain" was released as a single and subsequently charted at number twenty-nine there. In March 1990, the band was asked to perform on MTV's coverage of Spring break in Florida. At the event, Flea and Smith attempted to engage the audience by jumping from the stage; the situation got out of hand, and the two were alleged to have sexually assaulted and verbally abused a female audience member. They were arrested several days later on charges of battery, disorderly conduct and solicitation to commit a lascivious act, but released on $2,000 bail. Smith and Flea's arrest worsened Kiedis' impending charge in Virginia from the "Positive Mental Octopus" tour, for which the vocalist was ultimately convicted of sexual battery and indecent exposure and sentenced to pay a fine of $1,000 per charge.

The Chili Peppers wound up the Mother's Milk tour with a variety of performances that included the 1990 Pinkpop Festival and several other large-scale concerts. Once complete, the band rested, and Frusciante and Flea organized a short-lived side project called H.A.T.E. along with bassist John Norwood Fisher and vocalist Angelo Moore of Fishbone. EMI capitalized on the recent interest in the Chili Peppers by releasing a music video compilation VHS called Positive Mental Octopus, which was named after the tour, in 1990. That same year the band also released "Show Me Your Soul", a song that was originally a b'side on the "Knock Me Down" single, on the soundtrack to the hit romantic comedy film, Pretty Woman. The song was a minor hit for the band and a music video was made. For unknown reasons the band also recorded a cover of the Bachman–Turner Overdrive song, "Takin' Care of Business" however the song would never be released.