Rage Against the Machine

Rage Against The Machine To Rock Against 'Racist' Arizona Immigration Bill

22 Jul 2010 15:14:22 EDT

Los Angeles show will be the band's only concert in North America this year.
By James Montgomery, with reporting by Matt Elias

Tom Morello says that when he and his Rage Against the Machine brethren first heard about the passing of Arizona's controversial SB 1070 immigration bill, they knew they had to do something about it.

So the band decided to do what it does best: bring the sound and fury.

In tandem with Sound Strike — an organization that calls on musicians to boycott the state until SB 1070 is repealed — Rage organized a benefit show set for Friday in the band's hometown of Los Angeles. Considering the heft of the situation (and the fact that the gig will be RATM's first L.A. appearance in 10 years), well, you can expect that it's going to be a pretty monumental evening.

"Sound Strike is artists united against Arizona's recently passed, racist immigration legislation," Morello told MTV News on Wednesday. "[And] Rage Against the Machine are playing our first show in 10 years in our hometown of Los Angeles to support activists within the state of Arizona who are against this legislation. We're playing with Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and it's going to be a pretty fantastic time."

Morello said that all proceeds from the show, which is already sold out, will go to the Sound Strike Fund, which directly supports the Arizona-based organizations PUENTE Arizona and The Florence Project. And he promised that fans will be in for a fiery night. After all, the stakes are high, and the band's anger is even higher.

"Rage is playing just one show in North America this year, and the reason we're doing it is to stand up against legislation that just reminds me of the worst aspects of apartheid," Morello said. "It's a soft-core apartheid, so we're going to rock until that f---ing thing's kicked out."

What do you think of Rage Against the Machine's stance on the Arizona immigration law? Let us know in the comments!

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Rage Against The Machine Take On Simon Cowell In U.K. Xmas Battle

18 Dec 2009 13:16:00 EST

Band dropped F-bomb four times during BBC performance of 'Killing in the Name,' the current leader in annual Christmas single contest.
By Gil Kaufman

It might be hard for American music fans to comprehend, but the annual race to land the #1 Christmas single in England is a seriously major deal. And typically, the song that wins out is a sappy, cloying ballad full of warm fuzzies that everyone can feel good about at this most stressful time of year.

But Rage Against the Machine have tossed a giant Molotov cocktail into the works this year, igniting a public feud with the man the New Musical Express dubbed "The Grinch" in its current Christmas issue, "American Idol" baddie Simon Cowell.

The "Idol" judge, who is also the man behind England's popular "The X Factor" reality talent competition, has been promoting a vanilla cover of the Miley Cyrus ballad "The Climb" by that show's recent winner, Joe McElderry, as this year's feel-good holiday song. But an underground guerrilla campaign by Rage fans to push the band's 1992 musical manifesto "Killing in the Name" past McElderry's song has become headline news this week in the U.K.

The NME reported that the tension was upped another notch on Thursday morning, when Rage performed live on the air from Los Angeles and, despite promising producers of BBC's 5Live show that they would not sing the curse words in "Killing in the Name," dropped four F-bombs before having their performance faded out.

During an accompanying interview, Rage guitarist Tom Morello slammed Cowell and the campaign to get the "X Factor" winner's song to #1 and said the Internet campaign "tapped into the silent majority of the people in the U.K. who are tired of being spoon-fed one schmaltzy ballad after another." Cowell has been adamant about his disdain for the campaign to hoist Rage into the #1 spot, calling it "stupid," "cynical" and "very Scrooge." In an interview, Cowell lamented, "Joe doesn't deserve to be stuck in the middle of this. A campaign aimed at harming his chart position is unnecessary."

To date, former Beatle Paul McCartney and the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl have spoken out in support of Rage taking the Xmas title, with Grohl pledging to buy a copy of "Killing" in order to help it reach the finish line ahead of McElderry on Sunday. McElderry admitted this week that he has never heard the Rage anthem, or any Rage song.

As of Thursday afternoon, "Killing" was leading "The Climb" by nearly 9,000 copies. MTV U.K. reported that Rage said they will donate any profits from the sales of "Killing" to charity.

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Black Eyed Peas, Dave Matthews Keep Spirits Up At Outside Lands Festival

30 Aug 2009 12:49:00 EDT

Headliner Matthews put on nostalgic show featuring guest appearances by Fergie, Apl.de.Ap, others.
By Marc Hawthorne, with additional reporting by Kyle Anderson

SAN FRANCISCO — San Franciscans surprised by the honest-to-goodness summer weather that showed up this weekend finally had a chance to zip up their hoodies on the second night of the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival. But headliner Dave Matthews gave the crowd plenty of reasons to wiggle the chills away during his two-and-a-half-hour set.

Matthews and his eponymous band played with the precision that comes from knowing how their bandmates work, which produced some impressive jams and awe-inspiring solos. Matthews provided a dose of early-millennial nostalgia with a set that focused heavily on favorites like "Jimi Thing" and "Ants Marching." Along the way, Fergie and Apl.de.Ap from the Black Eyed Peas showed up to inspire Matthews to take his goofy dancing to another level. Then, pedal-steel specialist Robert Randolph slipped in during the encore to end the set with two covers Matthews always keeps in his back pocket: Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" and Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)," the latter of which featured singing and beat-boxing by Randolph.




	Inside The Outside Lands Music Festval

But back at the top of the afternoon, on the Twin Peaks stage at the opposite end of the festival grounds, Street Sweeper Social Club brought an entirely different brand of grooviness and some of the weekend's few true aggro moments. Conceived by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and fronted by the Coup's Boots Riley (who continuously reminded the crowd that Street Sweeper Social Club is "more than a band, we're a social club"), the group played songs from its self-titled debut plus well-received covers of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" and LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out," both of which kept the pit churning.

On the way back to the main stage, the Barbary — which took place inside a tent filled with oak-framed mirrors and stained glass — offered some mid-afternoon comedy from past and present locals Sherry Sirof, Brent Weinbach and Kevin Camia, all of whom managed to offend all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time with tales of anatomy, sexual preference and 99-cent stores.

Raphael Saadiq didn't drop any comedy into his funky set, though he did go into a long monologue about growing up in nearby Oakland and listening to Al Green for inspiration. Saadiq and his band wore matching black suits as though they were going to hit the blackjack tables immediately following the show, and he treated the afternoon like a hot '60s R&B revue. Working the stage like a deranged bandleader, Saadiq called upon the early afternoon crowd to sway and bounce along with his old-school soul jams.

It wasn't all about the love, though, as he detoured into a cover of the Stooges "Search and Destroy," lending Iggy Pop's snarl a bit of gospel heft. He closed out the show by bringing on his first-ever choir director, who inspired him to sing as a child. With a scratchy, bluesy delivery, he backed up what Tom Jones had established on Friday night: Sometimes a little experience goes a long way.

As the middle player on Saturday's main stage, Jason Mraz was reminiscent of Jimmy Buffett as he took his hour-long set right down the middle, playing laid-back pop, reggae, disco-funk and everything else that makes sense on a warm afternoon in the park. It certainly didn't have much in common with the otherworldly weirdness going on at the nearby Sutro Stage, where the re-formed Os Mutantes played to a noticeably sparse audience. Apparently the Brazilian psych-rock pioneers — who got back together a few years ago after splitting in the late '70s — didn't get the memo about what the Hacky Sack crowd would be interested in hearing. But like many of the weekend's stalwarts, Os Mutantes stuck to their guns and played their hearts out, which paid off in the end, when leader Sérgio Dias blurted out, "That was amazing!" at his own band's performance.

Sporting a beard that complements the music he's making these days, Conor Oberst and his Mystic Valley Band closed down the Sutro Stage with songs that are more down-home than downtrodden. One highlight of the set was when he brought out Jenny Lewis to perform Rilo Kiley's "Portions for Foxes," though Oberst outdid himself in the end with a beautiful rendition of the sparse and gorgeous "Milk Thistle."

Back on the main stage, the Black Eyed Peas provided the day's first real communal moment with their truckload of radio hits, and calling San Francisco their "home away from home" earned the band even more points with the local crowd (though Fergie should know better than to call it "Frisco"). The world didn't become a better place during the hour-long show, though it came closer than usual. There's something about "I Gotta Feeling" that makes the promise that "Tonight's gonna be a good night" easy to believe, and the band wisely closed their set with it. That gave way for Matthews, giving the 50,000 strong in Golden Gate Park a jubilant one-two punch that sent them home euphoric.

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Soundgarden -- Minus Chris Cornell -- Reunite For One-Off Show

26 Mar 2009 11:47:00 EDT

Grunge vet Tad Doyle handles the singing duties.
By Gil Kaufman

It's the reunion grunge fanatics said would never, ever happen. On Wednesday night in Seattle, the former members of Soundgarden reunited for a brief set at the Seattle stop of Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello's Justice Tour. Well, all the members except singer Chris Cornell, who is busy promoting his Timbaland-helmed solo album. The three other members of the group, reclusive guitar wizard Kim Thayil, current Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd — who have not played together since the band split in 1997 — were supplemented by hefty grunge semi-celebrity Tad Doyle for the gig, which was greeted with ecstatic cheers by the lucky fans in attendance.

According to the Seattle Weekly, during the surprise set at the city's Crocodile club, Morello, who said he has rarely been as excited, played rhythm guitar as the razor-blades-and-gravel-voiced Doyle sang lead on "Spoonman," during what was described as "a rare moment for Seattle rock and everybody in the venue knows it. Just moments earlier, the floor of the Crocodile was nearly shaking from all of the screaming fans who were waiting all night for this type of surprise. But most people didn't know what the surprise was."

The night opened with Morello playing a set as the Nightwatchman, followed by some songs from Steve Earle, a few tunes from the new Morello/ Boots Riley (the Coup) band Street Sweeper, sets from Mudhoney singer Mark Arm and former MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer.

"Right after that, Tadgarden hit the stage and the place went nuts," the Weekly reported, noting that the big question hanging over the reunion all night was whether Cornell would be behind the mic, a prospect most in the crowd knew was not likely given the band's acrimonious split. The newly dubbed supergroup started with "Nothing to Say," then hit "Spoonman" and ended with the leadoff track from the group's debut 1987 EP, Screaming Life, "Hunted Down." Just before he acid-gargled his way through "Spoonman," the beefy Doyle lifted up his shirt, jiggled his gut and joked, "That's half a Cornell right there."

After the show, when asked how he thought it went, Thayil reportedly said, "Not bad for an hour and a half of practice after not playing together for 12 years. ... It was a lot of fun. We played yesterday for a bit but we know all that stuff by heart so we didn't need to practice much."

The poorly kept secret was widely documented by a number of Seattle scenesters, showing up almost instantly in Flickr photostreams and a set of poor-quality MP3s and videos on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer blog site.

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Our Wish List For Blink-182, Linkin Park And More Rockers In 2009

16 Jan 2009 11:53:00 EST

We'd love some new material from No Doubt, Rage Against the Machine, White Stripes and other heavyweights.
By Gil Kaufman

2008 was a huge year for rock ... and 2009 looks like it could be even bigger. So all this week, we're taking stock of the things guaranteed to rock this year. From the triumphant returns of some of the biggest bands on the planet to a handful of up-and-coming acts that we're expecting big things from in '09, we've got it all covered. This is Rock Week, on MTVNews.com.

It's not like we're complaining. This year is already shaping up to be a pretty solid one, what with new albums expected from U2, Green Day, Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Tokio Hotel and Mastodon.

But that doesn't mean we can't pine for even more rock action. And so, we present our list of things we'd love to see happen this year:

Guns N' Roses: Yes, we already got the long-awaited Chinese Democracy, and that was ... satisfying. But what could Axl and his band of merry replacements do to really bring it all back home? (You know, short of returning the first stringers.) How about mounting a kick-ass tour and playing the classics without showing up three hours late every night, setting off riots or canceling dates because the color of the green room was too green. Plus, an EP of outtakes and remixes would be kind of dope too.

White Stripes: The Raconteurs are great. But it's been two years since Icky Thump and since Meg came down with "acute anxiety" that cut short that album's tour cycle. Rumors of a seventh album in the works from the duo have floated, but nothing official has been announced yet.

Blink-182: The boys are talking again, and while Tom, Travis and Mark are all working on their own projects, we know a thaw has happened and the door is open to a possible reunion. We're not asking for much — maybe just a few spot shows leading to a full-fledged naked dance party and a new album. That's all.

No Doubt: Not that anyone is counting, but technically, it's been eight years since your last album and almost six since there was any real activity. We know you're working on that new album and that it isn't supposed to be ready until 2010, but a Christmas surprise would be so boss.

Blur: Not that Blur leader Damon Albarn has been slacking since this Britpop act went on hiatus in 1999 (see: solo albums; Gorillaz; the Good, the Bad and the Queen; Monkey), but a new album from the group, and maybe that rumored Coachella headlining reunion slot, is all we're asking for.

Linkin Park: Minutes to Midnight came out in 2006. Hurry up and finish that concept album.

A Perfect Circle, Arctic Monkeys, Evanescence, Korn, the Strokes: Speaking of "hurry up" ...

Led Zeppelin: The rumors have been swirling ever since the three original members of this English juggernaut reunited for a one-night-only show in late 2007, but all along, singer Robert Plant has said he's not down for what would likely be the biggest-grossing tour of all time. Here's to hoping he has a change of heart.

Kid Rock: Yeah, 2007's Rock N Roll Jesus had a slow-burn rise up the charts, but, iTunes be damned, Rock proved once again that he can only do things his way. We're ready for another dose, thank you.

Rage Against the Machine: You got back together, played a bunch of dates, nobody punched anybody in the face backstage (as far as we know) — what gives? Just make a new record, will ya?

Flaming Lips: That Christmas on Mars instrumental album just isn't going to cut it. Cough up the real goods, fellas.

Stone Temple Pilots: You're back together, Scott's solo album was ... interesting, but it's high time to crunch some bones.

The Hold Steady: You've been averaging almost an album a year since 2004. Stay Positive came out last year. Do the math.

Velvet Revolver: Get a new singer already.

For more Rock Week coverage, check out our Rock Rookies of 2009: Kevin Rudolf and Chester French, Hey Monday and Friday Night Boys, and Crooked X and Glasvegas.

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Rage Against The Machine Fans Arrested Following Impromptu Post-Show RNC Protest

04 Sep 2008 09:09:00 EDT

Minneapolis police arrest 102 protesters, as the Republican National Convention happened in nearby St. Paul.
By Jocelyn Vena

Minneapolis police arrested 102 people Wednesday night after fans leaving a Rage Against the MachineRage Against the Machine concert started an impromptu march to protest the Republican National Convention, which was happening nearby in St. Paul.

The group marched up and down First Avenue near the Target Center, where the concert was held. The crowd, which was originally made up of about 250 people, seemed like it would die down, according to Police Chief Tim Dolan, who told Minnesota Public Radio, "We're OK, they're thinning out a lot."

But the crowd didn't leave as fast as the dozen or so police officials — most of whom were dressed in riot gear and arrived on the scene by foot, bicycle or horseback — would have liked, and eventually the remaining members of the march were gathered up by law enforcement and hauled off to jail in two city buses.

Dan Kriske, who told MPR that he was merely observing the march, said the police placed him and two of his friends under arrest but eventually let them go. "We were watching the convention at about 10 p.m., and we saw people gearing up for protest rides," Kriske said. "And we're like, 'Oh, we should actually check this out because it might be cool. Like a history in action kind of thing."

He added that he saw police use pepper spray on some of the concert attendees. This is the first major incident in Minneapolis since the RNC started earlier this week. Unlike the protest held in St. Paul on Monday, there was no property damage or violence.

The incident marked the second time this week that Rage Against the Machine were involved in a clash with Twin Cities police. On Tuesday, the band attempted to play a show on the State Capitol lawn in St. Paul, but police cut the power, saying that Rage arrived too close to the concert's curfew time, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Instead, the band led the crowd in a cappella renditions of its songs "Bulls on Parade" and "Killing in the Name."

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Rage Against The Machine And Thousands Of Protesters Rock The DNC ... Peacefully

27 Aug 2008 22:39:00 EDT

Band headlines protest show just down the road from Democratic National Convention.
By Gil Kaufman

DENVER — A month after whipping the crowd at Lollapalooza into a near-riotous frenzy, a strange thing happened during the Rage Against the MachineRage Against the Machine protest show on Wednesday (August 27) in support of Iraq Veterans Against the War: Things were downright ... peaceful. And, as of 7 p.m. Mountain Time, they stayed that way as several thousand protesters gathered in the shadow of the Pepsi Center, where President Bill Clinton was about to address the Democratic National Convention.

After a more than 2-mile march across Denver that at one point included a police-estimated 4,500-6,000 people, a crowd of several thousand anxiously awaited word from the campaign of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama, to whom they had submitted a list of demands that included an immediate withdrawal from Iraq and reparations for the Iraqi people. With more than 700 police in full riot gear looking on, the protesters defiantly refused to enter the designated 50,000-square-foot protest zone, dubbed the "Freedom Cage," saying that as veterans, they deserved more from their country. With chants of "Whose streets? Our streets!" and "We believe in freedom and will not rest, will not rest until it comes," the marchers were led by a phalanx of soldiers from Iraq Veterans Against the War and a front line that included Rage's Zack de la Rocha and Tom Morello, as well as the Coup's Boots Riley. They amassed outside the Freedom Cage and let out a whoop as word came down around 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time that the Obama camp had agreed to enter into negotiations with the group. Hours earlier, Tent State University leader Adam Jung vowed from the stage of the Coliseum that the marchers would make the Democrats "sh-- their pants" as the mile-long protest snaked through town. Before taking off, Rage played an hour's worth of incendiary, bomb-throwing anthems from their catalog, and lead singer De la Rocha egged on the near-capacity crowd at the Denver Coliseum into a froth, but several hours' worth of warnings from the concert's organizers to keep the post-show protest nonconfrontational appeared to soak in as fans mostly danced in place with their fists in the air, spinning out the occasional mosh pit. Among those helping to spread the message of peaceful resistance at the show — which also included sets from the Coup and Denver natives the FlobotsFlobots — was Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic, whose story was the basis for the Tom CruiseTom Cruise movie "Born on the Fourth of July.""Born on the Fourth of July." His fist raised in the air, the wheelchair—bound Kovic told the crowd that "the whole world is watching." Rage said little during their set, playing hits such as "Testify,""Testify," "Bulls on Parade""Bulls on Parade" and "Killing in the Name." With assistance from former MC5 guitarist and 1968 Democratic National Convention protest veteran Wayne Kramer — decked out in all white and sporting a guitar painted with an American flag — Rage ripped through a punk-edged take on the MC5's scorched-earth manifesto "Kick Out the Jams." De la Rocha kept the polemics to a minimum during the show but gave a stern warning that "revolutionary change begins with a crime of betrayal," and said that any politician who continues to support the United States' current policies "is in harm's way." A short time later, voluntary parade marshal Wesley Flowers, 31, put on his helmet and brightly colored vest and began the long march to the Pepsi Center, keeping the marchers in line while warily eyeing the hundreds of police on bicycle and on foot shadowing the march from across the street. "I'm wearing a flak jacket because I'm allergic to tasers," he said, showing off his body armor and explaining that with his heart murmur, a blast of the taser could cause him to go into cardiac arrest. Flowers, an advocate for the homeless, said he hitchhiked eight days from Portland, Oregon, to take part in the protest and hoped that the Obama campaign — which he had written a letter to three weeks prior — would listen to the veterans' demands when they made their way to the Pepsi Center. An hour before the marchers arrived, hundreds of police began massing and forming long, foreboding lines, in order to funnel the march toward the protest zone and away from the delegate entrance to the Pepsi Center. Checking their mace canisters, dropping their face shields, standing at attention with their five-foot batons at the ready and strapping on leg armor, the squadrons of storm trooper-like officers marched into the fray with orders to be prepared for potential violent action.

The protesters marched past the gathering delegates and into a long concrete and barbed-wire corridor, stopping several times to coordinate actions with police, remaining orderly and respectful along the way. In another bit of Big Brother irony, the procession was led by a police officer in a heavily armored golf cart with a digital message board on it that flashed the instructions, "Welcome to Denver ... Follow us." Nearly three hours into the protest, frustration began to ripple through the crowd as it stalled out just outside the desolate Freedom Cage, with some marchers sitting down to play dice, start impromptu dance circles, smoke marijuana and, eventually, wander away until police estimated that just a few thousand remained. Then, a buzz rippled through the mass as the word was passed on from the front that something was happening. "We are entering negotiations with Senator Obama," one of the march's Iraq-vet leaders announced. "The Democratic Party is scared sh--less of us right now!" A spokesperson for IVAW could not be reached for comment on the negotiations at press time, but judging by the roar of approval from inside the convention center for President Clinton's speech a short time later — which likely could not be heard by the far-flung protesters — fear was likely not the on the minds of party supporters as they finally got the healing message between the Clinton and Obama camps they'd been looking for all week.

Don't miss out on the action: MTV News and our Street Team '08 will be on the ground at both conventions to sort through all the speeches, streamers and ceremony to find the information you need to choose our next president. And head to Choose or Lose for nonstop coverage of the 2008 presidential election. And after history is made in Denver, MTV News will help you make sense of it all in "Obama Decoded," premiering Friday, August 29 at 7:30.

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Rage Against The Machine To Play Protest Gig During Democratic National Convention

14 Aug 2008 13:50:00 EDT

Agit-rockers already announced Minneapolis show during the Republican gathering.
By Gil Kaufman

This year at least, Rage Against the MachineRage Against the Machine are bipartisan bomb-throwers. The agit-rockers, who are already playing a show in Minneapolis during the Republican National Convention in September, have just announced another gig during the Democratic National Convention in Denver at the end of this month.

The "Tent State Music Festival to End the War" will take place August 27 at the Denver Coliseum and feature sets by Rage, the Flobots, the Coup, State Radio and former MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, whose proto-punk band famously performed against the wishes of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley during the violent protests outside the 1968 DNC gathering. The band went home without their instruments, but they did have bloody battle scars from brawls with police.

Rage also know a thing or two about getting shut down at the DNC, as their 2000 set during the party's gathering in Los Angeles erupted in chaos when police rushed in and used tear gas to disperse the crowd. This year's all-ages show will begin at 11 a.m., and tickets are free to those who sign up for the lottery by presenting a valid ID at the Tent State University location in Denver between August 24 and August 26. Winners will be notified by e-mail on August 26.

The Denver protest event is being put on in conjunction with the Iraq Veterans Against the War and Tent State University, a group that works to help young people "take back their campuses and their communities." Tent State plans to erect a "sea of tents" in City Park, Denver, during the DNC and create an "alternative university, teaching tactics and strategies necessary to force an end to this war." Among the guests on tap during the protest are third-party presidential candidate Ralph Nader and former Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.

During the protest, Tent State will also host a series of other shows as part of the first Tent State Music Festival, featuring sets by longtime social critic and ex-Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra, as well as the Coup, Michelle Shocked, Jill Sobule and some "special guests" during an event they are billing as "4 Days of Love & Action."

The logo for the protest, as well as the slogan, are meant to evoke the iconic poster for the legendary 1969 Woodstock Festival, which promised "3 Days of Peace and Music" and featured a white bird sitting on the neck of a guitar. The Tent State festival, in contrast, features an electric guitar being held aloft by a fist.

The organization has several days' worth of creative protests planned, including the Funky Snake Marches that will wind through downtown to protest the war in Iraq, daily morning gatherings that the group says will "turn downtown into one massive reminder to the delegates and the public of what war looks like" and the erection of mock checkpoints around Denver on August 26 to "mimic the experiences we force on people in Iraq, Palestine and on the U.S./Mexico border."

Other acts scheduled to perform during the Tent State festival include: Melissa Ivey, Blue Scholars, Son of Nun, God-des and She, 8" Betsy, David Rovics, Rachel Bagby, Common Market, Apex Vibe, P Nuckle, Fulcrum, Kombat, DJ Russh and the Flash Mob.

The latest Rage show is part of a growing musical roster for both conventions, which also includes a just-announced Grammy Foundation-sponsored gig featuring Daughtry, Everclear and the Flobots during the DNC; a Service Employees International Union-sponsored show by Rage guitarist Tom Morello, Mos Def, Lupe Fiasco and Steve Earle during the Republican Convention; and various other local concerts in the Minneapolis/ St. Paul area during the gathering.

MTV News and our Street Team '08 citizen journalists will be on the ground at both conventions, sorting through speeches, streamers and ceremony to find the information you need to choose our next president. Stay tuned for more coverage.

Get informed! Head to Choose or Lose for nonstop coverage of the 2008 presidential election, including everything from the latest news on the candidates to on-the-ground multimedia reports from our 51 citizen journalists, MTV and MySpace's Presidential Dialogues, and much more.

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Rage Against The Machine Fight The Good Fight; Their Fans Fight Everyone Else, In Bigger Than The Sound

06 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EDT

Aggressive Lollapalooza fans behaved more like Rage's adversaries than their allies.
By James Montgomery

On The Record: Rage Against The Machine, Now More Than Ever (Their Fans, Maybe Not)

If I learned anything this past weekend at Lollapalooza, it was this: Rage Against the MachineRage Against the Machine are still great, still fiery, still drill-team tight. They haven't let time, George W. or AudioslaveAudioslave change any of that.

Not surprisingly, their fans haven't changed either. Most of them are still morons.

Yes, it was 1999 all over again Saturday night in Chicago, and I mean that not just in the smash-and-dash, Woodstockian sense of the phrase. Here was Zack de la Rocha, focused and fierce, launching missives against the bullheaded Windy City police and the spy towers they had erected throughout Grant Park. Here was Tom Morello, summoning those squeals from deep within his guitar — a feat that is still impressive no matter how many times you've seen him do it now — and running circles 'round the stage. Here was Commerford and Wilk, pounding and precise as ever — making the Machine go. Here were Rage being Rage: mighty and massive.

And, of course, here were their fans, great angry throngs of shirtless men in their early 20s, most of them toddlers when Rage's self-titled debut blew up in 1993. They broke down perimeter fences, spilled onto the grounds, injured security personnel, crushed some girls against barricades and pushed others down stairs. They created a panic, they stormed the stage, and — perhaps most tellingly of all — when De la Rocha stopped RATM's set three times to beg them to relax ... they didn't listen.

And that's always been the rub with Rage and their fans: They hear the words coming out of De la Rocha's mouth, they just choose not to listen to them. They're more interested in cracking a few skulls than they are in learning about the Shining Path movement. They probably don't consider the power of a sentiment like "rollin' down Rodeo with a shotgun" while they're faux-rapping along with it, and when De la Rocha screams, "F--- you. I won't do what you tell me," they think he's talking about the security guard standing between them.

And that's a shame, but it's just the way it is. At the end of the day, kids don't want a civics lesson; they want to blow off some steam, drink a few beers, take their shirts off and get a tan. There's a reason Noam Chomsky doesn't headline the summer-fest circuit.

I'm fairly certain De la Rocha realizes this, and I bet it makes him rather sad. It's probably what he was referring to in the October 2000 statement that announced his departure from the band, saying, in part:

"Rage ... is no longer meeting the aspirations of all four of us collectively as a band, and from my perspective, has undermined our artistic and political ideal."

And yet, in the seven years between that statement and Rage's reunion show at Coachella 2007, there seemed to be plenty going on that could've rekindled both of those ideals. We needed Rage, wanted to hear what they had to say about, oh, I don't know, a stolen election or an illegal war or the occupation of an entire nation. But De la Rocha remained silent, invisible. Probably because he knew what our reaction would be.

But then Morello announced that Rage were re-forming at Coachella to "combat right-wing purgatory," and De la Rocha paraphrased Chomsky onstage, comparing the Bush administration to war criminals who "should be hung, tried and shot," and things started to get interesting. Fox News got all worked up into a tizzy by De la Rocha's comments (not surprisingly, they also paraphrased them and suggested he wanted to assassinate the president), and the frontman hit back with even more incendiary barbs at Rock the Bells, and you could get the sense that maybe, just maybe, he had the ear of the nation. And then, well ... then nothing else happened. This ain't the '60s: Musicians don't have clout, and kids don't care. The news cycle moved on. Fox found something else to hyperventilate about. And that's when De la Rocha was probably like, "Man, f--- this."

So now, we get events like Saturday night at Lollapalooza. It was still very much a Rage show, only minus much of the proselytizing — why bother, if no one's going to listen or care? — and with violence and bodily harm to spare. It was an unspeakably ugly scene — girls crying, skinny kids being pulled limp over the barricade at the front of the stage — and one that could've turned out much worse (luckily, no one was seriously injured by the crush of the crowd).

And I'm not sure how Rage felt about the Lollapalooza situation. To the best of my knowledge, they haven't addressed it. They probably never will, mostly because they don't have to (after all, nothing that happened was their fault), but I'm sure, by now, they've grown accustomed to their message being all but ignored by the meatheaded masses.

Or maybe it's me who's missing something. Perhaps the chaos on Saturday night is just part of the revolution — that the kids who got smashed against the barricade or the hired security that got hurt were just casualties in the ongoing war ("Those who die," De la Rocha will remind us, "are justified"). And maybe the only way to start something is with some violence. Maybe music is a weapon and anger is a gift. Maybe I am part of the problem and not the solution. But I sort of doubt it.

After all, the dudes doing the damage at Lollapalooza weren't revolutionaries, they were drunk frat guys. Jocks. Steakheads. They were angry, for sure, though I'm not really sure why — or at whom. They didn't seem to be the kinds of people who have much to be angry about, actually. And as I watched them stream out of the Lollapalooza gates, shirtless, some bloody, yelling and kicking half-full cups of beer at people, it occurred to me that these so-called Rage fans actually had more in common with the people in power, the shadowy corporate figureheads, and the George W. Bushes of the world than they do with anyone else. They're all bullies: cruel and powerful and unconcerned with the plight of the little people.

The kind of people who have pent-up aggression, and rather than release it constructively, they just wanna hear loud, aggressive rock music and pound someone in the face. Or invade Iraq. This is not exactly normal behavior. And I'd hope De la Rocha doesn't want people like this in his Grand Revolutionary Army.

And again, nothing I've written is meant to be a slight against RATM, and I hope it's not taken as such. I think their ideals and goals are noble ones, and I'm willing to bet we share most of the same beliefs (hey, I voted for Nader — twice), plus, I think they're a great band. It's their lunkheaded fans I've had enough of.

Because if you want to make change, there are better ways of doing it than injuring people, creating chaos and kicking stale beer all over dads and kids. Vote in local elections, volunteer, write your congressman, march and protest and use your outrage for good, not dumb-assery. And I bet De la Rocha would agree with me about that — and this: When you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out.

I think John Lennon said something like that once. Or maybe it was G. Love during his Sunday afternoon set. You know, whatever.

Questions? Concerns? Raging against my machine? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

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Rage Against The Machine To Rock During Republican National Convention

05 Aug 2008 09:24:00 EDT

Band will play Minneapolis, while GOP gathering happens across the river in St. Paul, Minnesota.
By Gil Kaufman

It's a safe bet that few of the attendees of the upcoming Republican National Convention (September 1-4) in St. Paul, Minnesota, will take a break from the expected coronation of Senator John McCain as the party's presidential hopeful to attend a certain show taking place across the river in Minneapolis.

Mainly because the headliners are Rage Against the MachineRage Against the Machine, who, according to Minneapolis' Star Tribune,Star Tribune, will bring their incendiary politics and anthems of violent revolution to the Target Center September 3. Coming off a fierce performance at last weekend's Lollapalooza — during which singer Zack de la Rocha was forced to stop the show three times to ask the crowd to stop crushing fans near the front of the stage — the band will likely be plugging in and offering a less-than-favorable view of conservative politics.

De la Rocha recently called for President Bush to be "tried for being a war criminal," and during the band's Lolla set, he raged against the last eight years of Republican rule and even had a word of warning for "Brother Obama," referring to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama.

"Now, we know Brother Obama. ... But I tell you what, if he comes to power come November and he doesn't start pulling troops out of Afghanistan, I know a lot of people who are gonna stand up and burn down every office of every Senate."

In addition to the Rage show, the band's guitarist, Tom Morello, will hook up with outspoken singer/songwriter and fellow social activist Steve Earle to perform a show at a union rally on September 1 at St. Paul's Harriet Island.

Rage played a free show at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles in 2000 that erupted in chaos when police rushed in and used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd, who they said had gathered unlawfully.

If Saturday night's headlining set at Lollapalooza is any indication, the scene at the Target Center could get very intense. Despite the appearance of chaos and a bit of panic from fans attempting to flee the crush of the crowd, festival spokesperson Shelby Meade told MTV News on Sunday that there were actually fewer medical issues during the Rage set than during Radiohead's headlining gig on Friday night, when more fans were overcome by the intense heat up front. She said most of the medical attention Saturday night was also due to fans overcome by heat and that the ones taken out of the pit on backboards were transported that way as a safety precaution. A medical worker told the Chicago TribuneChicago Tribune that no serious injuries were suffered during the Rage set, though an unspecified number of fans were taken to local hospitals with broken bones and were to be released Monday. "It was nothing out of the ordinary for a big show," Charlie Walker, one of the co-owners of Lollapalooza concert promoter C3 Productions, told the paper.

Meade also confirmed reports that "about 100" fans without tickets who had been listening to Rage from outside the festival's gates pushed down a fence and rushed the venue, but were quickly turned back by horse-mounted police.

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