Opt for Optimism

Pop by San Antonio's uplifting new mural before it's too late

Think you can take a better picture? Prove it.

Courtesy photo

A few days after a new mural sprung up at 1802 S. Flores St., CultureMap and Frost Bank popped in to help San Antonians celebrate it.

The colorful Opt For Optimism mural, by the popular street art duo Los Otros, is another inspirational aspect of Frost Bank's new campaign, which focuses on spreading generosity around the community. As onlookers posed for pics, CultureMap handed out tickets to Alamo Drafthouse, the Aztec Theatre, and bags of Live Love Pop popcorn.

"Optimism is choosing that you are going to take all the negativity in the world and make it into something beautiful for yourself and your loved ones," said one visitor.

For the next six months, you can visit the mural and take your own picture — be sure to tag it with #optforoptimism on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

charity-guide promoted

one hot minute

Legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers heat up San Antonio with 2023 tour stop

Red Hot Chili Peppers 2022

Red Hot Chili Peppers/Facebook

The alt-rock powerhouse are heading to San Antonio.

One of alternative rock's most legendary acts is headed to San Antonio on their highly anticipated North American tour next year. Red Hot Chili Peppers will play the Alamodome on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

Kicking off in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 29, RHCP will also stop in Houston's Minute Maid Park on Thursday, May 25 to close out the North American leg of the tour before heading to Europe. Effortlessly hip modern rock band The Strokes will support the Chili Peppers on both Texas stops, along with talented bassist-vocalist Thundercat.

Tickets go on sale at 10 am Friday, December 9 online. Other supporting acts along the way include Iggy Pop, The Roots, The Mars Volta, St. Vincent, City and Colour, and King Princess.

Touring in support of their two No. 1 studio albums released in 2022, Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen, the Chili Peppers have played sold-out shows in London, Paris, Los Angeles, and more with notable artists such as A$AP Rocky, Anderson.Paak, Beck, and HAIM.

The first rock band in 17 years to score two No. 1 albums in one year, the band has been red-hot on the Billboard charts and at the MTV Video Music Awards, where they received the Global Icon Award and brought the house down with a performance of the No. 1 single “Black Summer,'' which also won the award for Best Rock Video.

Fronted by the impossibly chiseled and ageless (he's 60!) Anthony Kiedis, the Chili Peppers formed in 1983. Unabashedly proud of their LA roots, the band burst onto the scene with early singles such as "Higher Ground" and "Give It Away," both showcases of bassist Flea's slappin', funk-fueled basslines.

Throughout the peak of alternative music in the '90s, the band saw tragedy, personnel changes at guitar, and reinventions — Kiedes' rap-singing, Flea's bass grooves, and singalong choruses all constants over the decades.

While many '90s alt-rock acts fizzled, the Chili Peppers stayed relevant; the band boasts two anthemic singles with more than 1 billion streams — "Californication" and "Under the Bridge" — and more than 25 million followers on Spotify.

Expect this show to be packed with Gen Xers and new fans for what promises to be one hot minute.

Red Hot Chili Peppers 2023 tour dates:

Wednesday, March 29 – Vancouver – BC Place
Saturday, April 1 – Las Vegas – Allegiant Stadium
Thursday, April 6 – Fargo, North Dakota – FargoDome
Saturday, April 8 – Minneapolis – US Bank Stadium
Friday, April 14 – Syracuse, New York – JMA Wireless Dome
Friday, May 12 – San Diego – Snap Dragon Stadium
Sunday, May 14 – Phoenix – State Farm Stadium
Wednesday, May 17 – San Antonio – Alamodome
Friday, May 19 – Gulf Shores, Alabama – Hangout Music Festival
Thursday, May 25 – Houston – Minute Maid Park