TORONTO -- There was no way out, no way to maneuver the crowd which stood skin to sweaty skin on Yonge Street between Gould and Dundas in downtown Toronto, no way to escape the concert by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

An estimated 10,000 people poured into cordoned street block to watch the American funk-based rock band slam out tunes from its latest album, Californication, and past classics like "Give It Away".

Construction workers giving the facelift to the once seedy Yonge Street strip stood on a scaffold to watch, teens lined the top floor of a parking lot behind a construction sight, some sat on roofs, and Metro's finest worked diligently to clear off any risky areas that people had propped themselves up on.

Once singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante hit the giant stage that was erected on Edward Street opposite the HMV Superstore, the presenting retailer, the sweat dripped, the moshing and body-surfing began and people clamoured for better sight lines.

One bloke actually perched on top of the Edward Street sign. Even the hard-bodied bleach-blonde Kiedis couldn't resist muscling himself up onto the top of the lighting rig during one number and lowering himself back down onto the speaker, then slithering monkey-style down an angled beam.

For the droves of fans, from four-year-olds with their parents to squeegee kids, Bay Street businessmen and the regular young rock fans, the stage would have been better set up at the north or south end of Yonge Street, for Kiedis's between-song banter was impossible to make out. The songs, however, weren't. The 45-minute show, included "Give It Away", "Scar Tissue", "Easily", "If You Have To", "Parallel", "Around The World", "Under The Bridge" and "Right On Time", before the two-song encore.