Chili Peppers Surprise Will Ferrell, Chad Smith Drum-Off on 'Fallon'

[HaWKEyiS]

Last week, Will Ferrell told Rolling Stone that his rivalry will Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith "could become the beginning of a rivalry that will go on until the end of time." It appears that rivalry ended Thursday night on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon with the long-awaited drum-off between the actor and his doppelganger.

Sporting matching black leather jackets, Kiss T-shirts, sneakers and blue baseball caps worn backwards, Smith and Ferrell took to the couch to talk to Fallon about the history of their feud, each speaking as the other person.

"Do you remember where you were when you heard [about this imposter]?" asked Fallon.

"Yeah. I was jammin'. I was jammin' with the Chili Peppers, with my guys. At our jamhouse," said Ferrell. "I'm like, 'Flea, this is bull. I'm tired of not getting enough respect as Chad Smith. I'll be honest, I'm a little high right now." Ferrell then drank from the "Chad Smith Go Juice." The duo did the entire bit as the other person, with Ferrell explaining Smith's charity Little Kids Rock as "taking instruments away from kids." (Smith stayed sincere when describing Ferrell's charity Cancer for College, a charity that gives college scholarships to cancer patients.)


"I think you can feel the crispiness in the air," said Fallon. "You know what the audience wants. You know what I want. You guys ready to do this?"

The pair then engaged in a "traditional drum-off," with Ferrell seemingly locking into unexpected grooves as Smith and Ferrell increased the intensity and complexity of the solos with each successive round. (It didn't hurt, of course, that Questlove was right to the side of Ferrell, acting as ringer/ghost drummer). Last week, Ferrell lowered the bar on his actual skills, responded to Smith's taunts with, "I have not been practicing. There's no amount of practice that would help me become a good drummer."

Ferrell eventually ceded his kit to, naturally, a cowbell as Smith's Red Hot Chili Peppers bandmates surprised the audience and began playing the Blue Oyster Cult (and "More Cowbell") classic "Don't Fear the Reaper" in Seventies clothes. After the band's first performance on a late-night show since 2006, Fallon presented the winner Ferrell with a golden cowbell.