Rage Against the Machine hasn’t toured or played any concerts in over a decade, but the band played at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in Wisconsin over the weekend. Did they, like, come out of retirement just for this show? I do not know. It does feel like the band had some sh-t to say specifically at this moment, more than two weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe in the Dobbs decision. Rage Against the Machine’s message was simple: abort the Supreme Court.
It’s been 11 years since Rage Against the Machine played a show. The band’s return, at an at-capacity Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy on Saturday, couldn’t have come a moment too soon.
It was supposed to happen in 2020; the reunion tour was timed to precede the U.S. presidential election. Starting two years later than planned because of COVID-19, the tour began with the state of the country still a Dumpster fire, and Rage and their fans have a growing number of issues to be enraged about. And one of their largest targets Saturday, not surprisingly, was the U.S. Supreme Court, specifically the court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade June 24.
“Forced birth in a country that is the only wealthy country in the world without any guaranteed paid parental leave at the national level,” read a caption on the screen as Zack de La Rocha unleashed growls, “yeahs” and calls for “freedom” over guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk’s accelerating rhythm.
“Forced birth in a country where Black birth-givers experience maternal mortality two to three times higher than that of white birth-givers,” the captions continued. “Forced birth in a country where gun violence is the number one cause of death among children and teenagers.”
And then, in all caps: “ABORT THE SUPREME COURT.”
It was the most specific political statement the band made Saturday. No one in the band made any speeches across their 90-minute set. But they channeled their fury through their visceral music, which sounded as urgent as it ever has — despite the fact that none of the 18 songs touched on Saturday were created in the 21st century.
[From Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
More of this. I want to see more men standing up for abortion rights and reproductive rights. I want to see more men talking about this and being active around these issues. I’m actually shocked that more high-profile men, celebrity men and American rock stars are not talking about it. Maybe I’m not that shocked, but dudes are definitely being SO quiet.
RATM played their first show in 11 years last night…they’ve been missed pic.twitter.com/HZMTDx7NKl
— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) July 10, 2022
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello (Thomas Baptiste Morello) performs as The Nightwatchman at Hard Rock Calling Day Two, Hyde Park, London, England, UK on 14th July 2012. *WORLD RIGHTS*,Image: 546572283, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 646 717 6785 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello (Thomas Baptiste Morello) performs as The Nightwatchman at Hard Rock Calling Day Two, Hyde Park, London, England, UK on 14th July 2012. *WORLD RIGHTS*,Image: 546572354, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 646 717 6785 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello (Thomas Baptiste Morello) performs as The Nightwatchman at Hard Rock Calling Day Two, Hyde Park, London, England, UK on 14th July 2012. *WORLD RIGHTS*,Image: 546572356, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 646 717 6785 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
So cool, so clear. Love them.
It takes two to make a child. Men have historically benefited from abortions.
More men need to speak up, stand with us and march alongside us. This is not just a woman’s issue.
Yes! Abortion is a human rights issue. Reproductive rights are everyone’s rights!
Men have benefitted from abortion but it’s not like the red states are going to bother holding them accountable for the babies they create. But it’s not about babies. It’s about keeping women subordinate, and many men are secretly happy about that. A subordinate women earns less, doesn’t get the promotions, does the crap work, is blamed for every single thing.
Pro-birthers (who I think should be called slavers) have created a world in which we literally will vote to decide whether the state can murder a woman who has an ectopic pregnancy – murder by denying life-saving care. And vote whether we can subject a child who was raped to months of prolonged torture and reminder for being a rape victim. And murder her, too, if her little abused body can’t handle the pregnancy. But too many men are taken with the “states-rights” garbage.
As a survivor of an ectopic pregnancy, I was appalled when someone made a comment on a friend’s Fb post about her experience. Her friend said something along the lines of her understanding was that treatment for ectopic pregnancies would be “allowed” so my friend shouldn’t worry about it. Life saving medical treatment is something that should just happen, not be ” allowed”! 😠
I loved their music back in the day and I love them (and their music) now. More of this please.
Love, love, love Rage. Saw them open for U2 way back in the day and they left me wondering, ‘U who?’ Alpine Valley was the first show of the first leg of their postponed World tour from 2020. Many more shows to come. More RATM! (Tom Morello isn’t the only person in RATM. Why only his photo?)
The older I get, the more I realize U2 has a few good songs but that’s it. They’re so f*cking overrated.
Tom Morello is probably the most “famous” member of Rage and has been out there the most outside of the band (with his own statements about social issues, solo music, etc.). That’s my guess about the photo thing.
How nice to see a man who actually cares about this and is raising his voice to say so. Over here, it’s just apathy and crickets and vague attempts to excuse it by saying shit like “Ya know, in the long run, it’s actually a good thing that they’re giving the power back to states to decide things like that” as if I wasn’t already feeling a deep desire to stab someone.
I heard from my brother the other day that only women should have a voice in this matter, no men. Only women should get to vote on this issue, only women should get to make this decision. Shocked the heck out of me! Here I was thinking he was a bit of a throw back.
They’re touring this summer. I just got tickets for my 17 yo son and I to go and see them next month. Can’t wait. And yeah…. ABORT THE SUPREME COURT!
They were supposed to tour in 2020 but obviously couldn’t, so it got rescheduled. My boyfriend goes to see them next week; he’s pretty excited. The tickets were big $$$.
I’ve been looking forward to this tour for so, so long. I have tickets to see them in August in New York. Run The Jewels is opening, it should be such a great show.
Wouldn’t expect any less from these guys. They’ve always taken a stand on important social issues. Slightly off-topic but during the weekend I watched Metal Lords, which Tom Morello produced, on Netflix. Fun little teen movie with a great soundtrack.
I was at this show and the best part was the absolute roar of the crowd with the forced birth facts. The majority of the crowd was middle aged or millennial white men and it was great to have proof they are not all MAGA. They sounded amazing! Absolutely worth your time to go it they have a show near you.
Love this. Thank you for sharing.
My all time favorite rock band. For more than 30 years now (and yes, they’ve been around that long), RATM has always been socially active. I remember one interview years ago where Tom Morello would talk about how he would bring toothpaste and a toothbrush with him when he participated in protests. He always planned ahead knowing he might get arrested during a protest. They are well versed in social issues and politics. And NEVER GET INTO A TWITTER WAR OF WORDS with Morello as many idiotic MAGA fans realized. You won’t win against him. Ask former Republican SPOTH Paul Ryan. A couple of MAGA fans and Ryan were fans of RATM’s music until they actually listened to the lyrics of their songs. LOL LOL LOL!!! Then they tried to attack Morello on it on Twitter. Oh, it didn’t go so well for them…LOL LOL LOL.
Bought tickets to this show in 2019 and they aren’t hitting my area until 2023 but I am here for it!
Love Rage. It’s amazing/horrifying how all of their 90s songs are still so relevant now.
ITA. “Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses.” I have thought about that lyric so much the past few years.
RATM is always on the right side of history.
They mixed up that lyric to also say that some elected to office are those who burn crosses. Totally true update to a great song, sadly enough.
Great that men’s voices are being raised… and past time. Do the right thing…stand with your mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, and friends…this is a fight for all not just half of humanity
Thank you Rage Against The Machine!
Fck yeah
Brilliant.
I love it when my teen crushes hold up. RAGE has been vocal on their social media, too. I LOVE that they used such inclusive language as well.