little hamburger stand had a grease fire or something ... It looked like nothing from where we were at." To kick off the band's European tour, the band staged a free show in Moscow's Red Square, on August 14, 1999, to a crowd of over 200,000. Kiedis recalled the situation: "Red Square was so filled with wall-to-wall Russians that we needed a police escort to get near the stage." Following the European leg, the group did a show in New York City, at the Windows on the World, for KROQ radio contest-winners, and then at the Big Day Out festival in Australia following several Japanese tour dates. Flea, however, began to feel the repercussions of touring causing the band to set up concerts that were less strenuous, and consequently less financially rewarding, for them. These shows would finish the remainder of the Californication tour. As one of the last shows before the release of their next album By the Way, the Red Hot Chili Peppers played at Rock in Rio 3 in Rio de Janeiro. Critical reception Californication received favorable reviews in contrast to One Hot Minute and it was a greater success worldwide. Rolling Stone credited Kiedis for his drastically improved vocals: "[his] vocal cords have apparently been down to some crossroads and over the rehab, and returned with heretofore unheard-of range, body, pitch, soulfulness, and melodic sensibility." Songs such as "Otherside" and "Porcelain" were called "Pumpkins-esque", while the album as a whole was "epiphanal" and the "RHCP furthermuckers are now moving toward funk's real Holy Grail: that salty marriage of esoteric mythology and insatiable musicality that salvages souls, binds communities and heals the sick." Howard Cohen hailed Californication as a major improvement over its predecessor in the Miami Herald, finding it features the band's "most accomplished music" to date. The Edmonton Journal Sandra Sperounes predicted that the "mighty dope" album would be a success, and "Scar Tissue" and "Otherside" would be chart toppers. She praised the renewed instrumentation and harmonies but took issue with the numerous references to California. Other critics credited the album's success to the return of Frusciante. AllMusic's Greg Prato said that the "obvious reason for [the band's] rebirth is the reappearance of guitarist John Frusciante", considering him to be the "quintessential RHCP guitarist". The album as a whole was "a bona fide Chili Peppers classic". Entertainment Weekly also credits Frusciante with transforming the band's