Chad Smith Tears Bicep

07/03/09 11:32am

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

If you thought Red Hot Chili Peppers and Chickenfoot drummer Chad Smith was incapable of rocking out, you are definitely wrong.

Smith must have been playing his drum kit pretty hard during Chickenfoot's gig on Monday in Paris, France, because he tore one of his biceps. This forced Chickenfoot to pull out of a gig on Wednesday in Madrid, Spain.

"We are sorry to inform our Spanish fans that Chickenfoot cannot perform tomorrow night in Madrid due to a serious injury to drummer Chad Smith," the band said in a statement on their website on Tuesday. "Chad was performing on stage last night in Paris and during the show he hurt his right arm badly.

"He has torn his small bicep and cannot play the show Weds July 1st. The band is very sorry they cannot play for their Spanish fans this week and plan to return as soon as possible."

Smith's funk-rock band, Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats (yes, that's seriously their name!), will release their debut album, Meet The Meatbats, on Sept. 15. In addition to Smith, the band features guitarist Jeff Kollman, bassist Kevin Chown and keyboardist Ed Roth.

The band grew out of jam sessions between Smith, Kollman and Roth while they were touring and recording with Glenn Hughes. Smith suggested they record an album, and they went into the studio after Chown joined the group.

Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats reportedly sound like a combination of classic rock, funk, punk and '70s R&B, according to their MySpace page, but Smith says his drum style on the album is more influenced by the likes of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham, Cream's Ginger Baker and Keith Moon of The Who.

"When I started learning to read music in school during fourth grade, initially I held my sticks in the traditional grip," Smith says. "But I remember practicing and thinking if I turned my left stick around I could get a lot more power and hit a lot harder. I like to hit hard. Hitting hard is very important for me — that's the way I play and I feel like it. Playing guitar, that's all great and everything, but hittin' stuff... AWESOME!"

That, ladies and gentlemen, is why he tore his bicep.

You can see Chickenfoot here, as long as Smith doesn't tear his bicep again:

July 3 Pistoia, Italy @ Blues Festival
July 4 Montreux, Switzerland @ Stravinski Hall (Montreux Jazz Festival)
July 5 Udine, Italy @ Lignano Sabbiadoro
July 10 Kilafors, Sweden @ Kilafors Herrgard (Rockweekend Festival)
July 12 Weert, Netherlands @ Sportpark Boshoven (Bospop Festival)
Aug. 2 Halifax, NS @ Citadel Hill (Canadian Forces Halifax Rock Fest http://www.chartattack.com/news/68555/olp-f11-sloan-rock-for-military-in-halifax)
Aug. 4 Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy
Aug. 5 Pittsburgh, PA @ Riverplex Amphitheatre at Sandcastle
Aug. 7 Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
Aug. 8 Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
Aug. 10 St. Paul, MN @ Myth Nightclub
Aug. 11 Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
Aug. 13 Comstock Park, MI @ Fifth Third Ballpark
Aug. 15 Cleveland, OH @ Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (free)
Aug. 17 New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
Aug. 18 Baltimore, MD @ Lyric Opera House
Aug. 20 Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
Aug. 22 Atlantic City, NJ @ House Of Blues
Aug. 23 Hampton Beach, NH @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
Aug. 24 Boston, MA @ Bank Of America Pavilion
Aug. 26 Portsmouth, VA @ nTelos Wireless Pavilion
Aug. 27 Charlotte, NC @ The Uptown Theatre at The Music Factory
Aug. 29 North Myrtle Beach, SC @ House Of Blues
Aug. 30 Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle
Sept. 5 Lake Tahoe, NV @ Harveys Lake Tahoe
Sept. 12 Grand Junction, CO @ Rock Jam
Sept. 14 Tulsa, OK @ Brady Theater
Sept. 16 Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theater
Sept. 17 Corpus Christi, TX @ Concrete Street Pavilion
Sept. 21 Grand Prairie, TX @ Nokia Theatre
Sept. 23 Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre
Sept. 25 Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre at University Of California-Berkeley
Sept. 26 Valley Center, CA @ Harrah's Rincon Open Sky Theatre
Sept. 27 Universal City, CA @ Gibson Amphitheatre

You can see Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats here:

Oct. 19 Koriyama, Japan @ Hip Shot Japan
Oct. 20 Sendai, Japan @ Junk Box
Oct. 21 Nagoya, Japan @ Bottom Line
Oct. 22 Osaka, Japan @ Bigcat
Oct. 23 Hiroshima, Japan @ Club Quattro
Oct. 24 Fukuoka, Japan @ Gate's 7
Oct. 26 Shibuya, Japan @ Shibuya O-East