Sony
Rage Against the Machine takes a hard stand on
political and social issues.The band performs
tomorrow night at Blaisdell Arena.
All the rage
By Treena Shapiro
Star-BulletinDoes your social conscience need a workout? Are you feeling oppressed? Are you in the mood for some pounding rap-infused hard rock? Do you want to Rage Against the Machine?
Tickets are still available to see Rage Against the Machine play 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Blaisdell Arena.
Just what is RATM? Well, the group has Zack de la Rocha on vocals, Tom Morello on guitar, Tim Commerford on bass and Brad Wilk on drums. The band's first public performance was in "somebody's living room" in Orange County, Calif.
Beyond that, RATM is the band that, at Lollapalooza III in Philadelphia, protested censorship by standing naked on stage for 25 minutes without singing or playing a note. It's the band, that at Woodstock '99 less than two weeks ago, didn't incite a riot, despite the fact that its lyrics are a call to action.
The band did get booted off the "Saturday Night Live" stage last year before its second set for refusing to remove inverted American flags from its amps. Steve Forbes was hosting the show that night.
RATM fights to free Mumia Abu-Jamal and Tibet. The guys have protested against sweatshops and racism. They support the Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional, a Mexican revolutionary group.
In 1993, the band headlined a sold-out Anti-Nazi League benefit at Brixton Academy in London. RATM also gave a free concert to benefit Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement leader imprisoned in Leavenworth.
Beyond that, Rage rocks, with hits like "Freedom" and "Bulls on Parade."
So, leave your sweatshop-manufactured clothes behind, put on your sturdiest boots and get in the mood for an enlightening, and deafening, evening.
In concert
Who: Rage Against the Machine, with special guest The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
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