Rage Against the Machine stops show at Lollapalooza 2008

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Rage Against the Machine stops show at Lollapalooza 2008
M. Taufiqurrahman , The Jakarta Post, Chicago, Illinois
It was like a repeat scene from Rage Against the Machine's infamousvideo for the single "Sleep Now in the Fire". In thevideo directed by filmmaker Michael Moore members of the L.A.agit-rock band play under the watchful eyes of New York's finest,following the city's refusal to issue a permit for them to play atthe New York Stock Exchange.
Now the scene moves to Grant Park, downtown Chicago, the placewhere members of Rage Against the Machine lead singer Zach de laRocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bass player Tim Commerford anddrummer Brad Wilk did their headline grabbing performance forLollapalooza, one of America's most important summer rockfestivals.
Minutes before Rage's performance, massed police from the ChicagoPolice Department stood on guard at the entrance to the AT&T stage,where the quartet was expected to play at 8.30 p.m. last week. Incontrast, no police were visible during earlier performances fromgroups such as Wilco, Explosions in the Sky, Broken Social Scene orRadiohead.
At around 9 p.m. local time, the authorities could have had evenstronger arguments to stop the show when, after only three songs,hundreds of over enthusiastic fans at the very front started togate-crash the stage.
I feared that Rage would finally call off the show, when midwaythrough their third song "Bullet in the Head", de laRocha stopped singing (or rapping to be exact) and anxiously toldthe crowd to back up a little bit.
"I promise that we will play all of our set list tonight onlyif you agree to take a five-step back," de la Rocha told thecrowd. And staying true to his reputation as a bonafide agitator hepleaded with the crowd to channel their aggression to where itbelonged. "Save that s**t for the streets," hereprimanded the fans.
Several times de la Rocha had to stop the show, the last time tohelp those at the very front to get up onstage to avoid seriousinjuries.
Such was the danger of attending the show of one of the mostincendiary bands on the planet. It was a risk worth taking if onlyit for the revolutionary fervor the band had to offer.
It was one of those hair-raising moments in music, knowing fullywell that you, with left fist pumped high up in the air, werechanting the anti-establishment slogans from Rage's lyrics togetherwith close on 75,000 people gathered at a venue in the heart of theworld's biggest capitalist nation.
In the shows of Canadian indie rockers Broken Social Scene orTexas-based guitar band Explosions in the Sky earlier in theevening, most in the audience were white, college-age youths whomerrily danced to the tunes, but in the Rage Against the Machineshow Latinos, Asian-Americans, African Americans, Rastafarians (atleast I thought so from their dreadlocks) all joined theanti-establishment chorus along with the white kids I saw dancingto Devotchka tunes earlier in the afternoon.
Even for those who have stopped believing in revolution, for amoment they must have felt that revolution was nigh in the streetsof Chicago.
Or even if it was not a revolution, I still got goose-bumps fromjoining my fellow Americans religiously belting out the lyrics from"Testify", one of Rage's hits from The Battles of Los Angeles , their last album prior to their dissolution in 2000.
I'm empty please fill me//Mister anchor assure me//That Baghdad isburning//Your voice it is so soothing//That cunning mantra ofkilling//
Penned in 1999, this song is more relevant now than ever. And inbetween the smell of pot, beers and sweat the youthful angst andanger were palpable.
Yet, only one year ago, this type of scene was unlikely to happen.For people like me, seeing Rage Against the Machine performing livewas almost a miracle.
The likelihood of Rage Against the Machine staging a show inSoutheast Asia is small and such a possibility was furtherdiminished when in 2000, after only three studio albums, the bandcalled it a day for the oft-quoted reason, members' "creativedifferences". I suspect that de la Rocha was just bored anddecided to leave his bandmates soldiering on with their newmediocre band Audioslave.
After three middle-of-the-road albums from Audioslave and de laRocha's low-key solo projects, the band decided to reunite in 2007and performed their first show in seven years at the CoachellaValley Arts and Music Festival in Southern California in April2007.
Rage's performance at the Lollapalooza 2008 was among a handful ofshows they made after the reunion and it was indeed an electrifyingperformance. For a single-day pass of US$80 (with a bonus of tonsof other performances from lesser-known bands) it was money wellspent.
De la Rocha's rapping and political convictions were as fiery asever. Donning a red shirt and three-color-wristband, the slightlyolder de la Rocha -- descendant of a Chicano rebel -- jumped,fist-pumped and ran round the stage in between leading the crowdwith verses and choruses. It also gave me a funny feeling seeing dela Rocha and Morello, two forty-something folks jumping and runningaround on stage.
As anyone could expect, de la Rocha was as political as ever.Midway through the show, while Wilk pounded his drum for anintermission, de la Rocha made a speech, threatening Barack Obamathat if he won the White House but didn't withdraw troops fromIraq, then he'd have a nation of angry, militant youths at hisfront door.
Morello, with his trademark "Unite" hat and short-sleevebrown shirt, delivered as only the world's best guitarist could.His guitar playing was as riffy as Southern rock, as dirty asgrunge, as insistent as hip-hop scratching. He is a one-man army ofguitar heroes, with his axe producing a wide range of guitarhistrionics from pure heavy metal riffs to funky wah wah.
Every opening riff was met with screaming and shout-outs from thecrowd and each guitar solo took them to a higher ecstatic state.
Wilk's and Commerford's rhythm sections were taut enough to leaveno sonic space in between Morello's guitar wizardry.
It was these combinations that have won Rage accolades fromcritics. The band's two recorded works, their self-titled debut andThe Battles of Los Angeles were respectively at number 368 and 426of the Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Albums of AllTime. And with albums like Getz/Gilberto by Stan Getz being placedat number 454, you know what this means.
And when the stage turned dark and what was left was the huge redstar sign and Che Guevara picture beaming from the spotlight, I,just like everyone else at Grant Park that night, was thinking tomyself how lucky I was to catch this rare performance.
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