Rage Against the Machine Rock The Bells Review 7/28/07
I'm finally posting on my blog, it seems like forever since I have done so, let alone reading anyone else's blog which I apologize for. I just have been very busy this summer and have unfortunately had very little time in which I could actually post. With that said I am going to post my review of the Rage Against the Machine show at Randall's Island on July 28, 2007 which was a part of the Rock the Bells Festival.I am going to try to keep my personal experiences with this event out of the review because if I did it would just be one large rant, instead I am just going to focus on Rage's performance. For me having the opportunity to see Rage was such an honor, this band has influenced me quite possibly more than any band with maybe the exception of Pink Floyd. The whole reason I am a political science major in college is because of Rage. All the days of dancing around my room in high school to their music have come in hand, now I would be losing my mind to the band in person.
Rage took the stage at around 9:00 with the lights going down and the enormous black flag and red star slowly rising up from the ground behind the stage. The band walked out onto the stage and the crowd went nuts, many of the people there were on there last legs for such a long and hot day but their adrenaline pushed them for Rage. Zack de la Rocha announced to the crowd "We are Rage Against the Machine from Los Angeles California" as if they were some unknown band. Like their first performance making a come back at Coachella they opened up with "Testify" and the crowd ate it up jumping around like this was the moment everyone has been waiting for their whole life, and for me, it sort of has been the moment I was waiting for my whole life. The band would go on to play all of their hits like "Bulls on Parade", "Sleep Now in the Fire" and "Guerrilla Radio" while throwing in a lot of material from the album "Evil Empire" like "Tire Me", "Down Rodeo", "Vietnow" and "People of the Sun". The fact that they played a lot from "Evil Empire" truly made me happy because that was the one thing I was wishing going into this show, especially "Tire Me" which I have never heard in one of their live performances. Also, the band completely excluded their album "Renegades" from the set.
They continued the show refraining from making too many speeches until their final song of the set "Wake Up" was played. Right before the big finale of the song Zack decided to make a pretty lengthy speech addressing his remarks at Coachella where they said "[The current administration] needs to be tried, hung and shot." He would go on to say that about a month ago the fascists over at Fox News said Rage Against the Machine's made claims that the President should be assassinated. Zack then said that they never said the President should be assassinated, he said they should be tried hung and shot like war criminals. He said that we need to stand up like the Iraqi youth has in regards to this war. The speech was clearly heart felt and passionate and at the conclusion of the speech they kicked into the epic finale of the song where Zack screams "Wake Up" continuously and aggressively.
The band quickly departed the stage and unfortunately the crowd wasn't that loud to cheer for an encore, but justifiably so, because it was such a long day and everyone's energy level was below zero. Even though there wasn't an overwhelming ovation for the band to come back on, they did anyway, and once they came back on the crowd went nuts again. They would then play a stunning rendition of "Freedom" and closed the show with "Killing in the Name" where the crowd would give all they had for the conclusion on the song where everyone screamed at the top of their lungs "F*ck you I won't do what you tell me!".
To say the show was phenomenal would be an understatement, when I thought that David Gilmour would probably own the top spot for my best concert ever, Rage topped it. The energy they displayed on stage was unparalleled to any band I have ever seen. Tom Morello was in great fashion as always and seems to feel more at home with Rage than with Audioslave, his creative talent is utilized far better and even on stage he displays more energy and enthusiasm. The crowd also made it a fantastic experience, it seemed that 90% of the crowd knew every lyric to every song, even the lesser known songs like "Tire Me". All I would have to say is if you are even the slightest fan of Rage Against the Machine than do whatever you possibly can to see them live, sell a kidney if you have to...
The Correct Setlist
1.Testify
2. Bulls On Parade
3. People of the Sun
4. Know Your Enemy
5. Vietnow
6. Bullet in the Head
7. Rodeo
8. Tire Me
9. Radio
10. Calm Like A Bomb
11. Sleep Now In The Fire
12. Wake Up
Encore:
13. Freedom
14 Killing In the Name
posted by Jeff at 12:28 PM
19 Comments:
amen
your set list is wrong. they didn't play bombtrack, they played people of the sun in that position. and they also played down rodeo.
nice review, definitely was one of the sickest shows I've ever been too also!!
-joel
You know my feelings about the band, but it sounds like it was a solid show. They're definitely top-notch musicians and I bet the show had a lot of energy. It's good that the skipped the Renegades material, because it was poor compared to the others.
Nice review. I've seen Rage 3 times back in the day and they were among my favorite concerts ever. They are the perfect synthesis of message and musicianship.
I'm glad that you got to see them.
I just came back from the Sunday show and I have to say that they played damn well for a nearly 7 year hiatus. De la Rocha refrained from speeches this evening and let the lyrics stand for themselves. The crowd tonight went wild as expected and after the show let NYC Parks & Recreation/Icahn Stadium know exactly what they thought of the main stage barricade and the surrounding fences, which were horrible arranged for a crowd of that size. My only negative is that compared to performances from the 90's, their rendition of "Freedom" tonight lacked the tightness of the past.
SC - Well put, lol
Joel - That's weird that I didn't add them to the setlist despite naming them in my actual review. I just revised it, thanks for the heads up.
Bob - Yeah, regardless of your view of their character you can't deny their talent. Also I was thrilled about no "Renegades" material and the abundance of "Evil Empire" songs.
Dbackdad - I wish I had the oppurtunity to see them that many times. I was pretty young when they first came out and didn't really get into them until the "Battle of Los Angeles" days, and it wasn't really until a few years after that until I really got into them.
Anonymous - From the video's I've seen of their past "Freedom" performances I would agree, Zack didn't seem as emotional and into it as normal, and in regards to the Festival itself, I thought it was very poorly put together, just the fact that the festival was on Randall's Island was a flaw, any island that has basically one way to get on and one way to get off should not have festivals of that magnitude.
Ok the festival was poorly put together, but it was Rage man. I dont care if it was held in a maternity ward, id love it. My only complaint, and its not really a complaint cuz the show tonight ROCKED, was that they didnt play Wake Up. Granted, had they Im pretty sure me n the rest of the crowd would have torn that fucker down! haha All the hip hop fans were a bunch of faggot ass white people that were all and INDIE HIP HOP, bitches n niggaz need to remember that the streetz used to be death row, n the GAME is bringin it back!! BLACK WALL STREET!!! hah all in all tho rage was NASTY!
xanderii - I'm assuming you went to the Sunday show, that's a real shame they didn't play "Wake Up"!
Hey all. I posted the original anonymous post and I have to say that everyone who saw them this weekend got a treat. I also was disappointed about the lack of Wake Up in the Sunday night set list. However, being that I got into them when what they were doing was nothing like anything else in the mainstream that I wish they had played even more tracks from the first album. I remember the first time I tried to buy it I got refused because of the "Parental Advisory" back in '92 thanks to the PMRC. That album will always be my favorite just for that reason. It made the whole thing that much more memorable being denied and getting the message anyway.
Yeah! I am so glad you got to go see them, I know you were really looking forward to this show! Do you ever get post-show depression? I usually do if its something I had been looking forward to for a long time.
This was a great review and it was good to see you back online, you were missed!
Found your blog while searching for the text of Zack's Wake Up speech. Correct set list is posted here (order is correct, too):
http://www.guerillaunion.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=511&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
I noticed that New Orleans and Vegas dates have been scheduled recently as well.
Anonymous - I was thrilled with the setlist from Saturday's show because of the abundance of "Evil Empire" material which is my favorite. By any chance do you know the setlist for Sunday's show?
Layla - Ya know the day after the show I was fine, I was just so thrilled that I had the oppurtunity to go see them but now I'm really hoping it wasn't my last time. I know they are playing a show in Wisconsin and New Orleans and I'm pretty tempted to go, but obviously those aren't too close to home.
Jokah - Thanks for the link, I will post the correct setlist now, I will also post the video to Zack's speech on here because I found it on YouTube.
"they opened up with "Testify" and the crowd ate it up jumping around like this was the moment everyone has been waiting for their whole life, and for me, it sort of has been the moment I was waiting for my whole life."
Exactly how I felt. The energy was great. Took almost 6 hours to get home but even then I wasn't tired and wasn't that mad.. But I wont be going to that god forsaken island again, that's for sure.
-Bud
Bud - I share your feelings exactly, Rage was phenomenal but Randall's Island just may be the worst place for a festival to be held. It took me 6 hours to get home because they HIGHLY recommended that I use public transportation which was so amazingly inefficient. What should have been a 3 hour trip tops was 6 hours...
Jeff - Man I'm jealous. So they didn't play ashes in the fall? Bummer, sounds like it was a kick ass show, maybe they'll get around to making a new album.
Peace,
- Neo
Neo - If they recorded a new album I would be so ecstatic, so I'm crossing my fingers. Also, they unfortunately did not play "Ashes in the Fall", I sure would have loved to have heard that epic riff at the end of the song.
Nice review. I saw Rage one time, they opened the '93 Lollapalooza main stage in Quonset, RI. The place went apeshit! They were followed by Tool and the place exploded! I believe the headliners that day were Alice In Chains and Primus.
I came from Colorado for the show and I mostly agree with the show review and most other comments (except I wanted Cypress Hill to come out and do Kill a Man from Renegades, or Chuck D come out for some kind of badass cover song). If I had never seen RATM it would have been off the hook because they blow away all other bands live, but the crowd energy made up for the bands, especially Zac's, lack of energy. This was my 6th time to see them and the least energetic, until the end Zac just walked around the stage doing his rap with his signiture raised hand/fist.
Leaving Randalls Island was one of the worst concert experiences of my life. Trying to get on the bus was like a mass exidus trying to leave a war torn country or an island about to be hit by a hurricane.I'm really surprised that there wasn't someone hurt or a riot.
I saw them the Sunday afterwards and they were sick. They are the tightest, most exciting band I have ever seen live. Also, Zack was pumped up on stage; it sounds like he was more energetic during this second show. My complaints are that they didn't play "wake up" during this show, and "renegades", which would have been nice just because it's what I first listened to as a youngun' before I started to deeper explore their repertoire. As soon as Zack's voice drifted out across the crowd, so did adrenaline pump through my veins; it was an intense captivation. And if they had played "Fuck tha police" I think I would have considered my pleasure on par with that of an orgasm. Here's something nice and friendly: a group of gents who are performers of the highest caliber, and urge you scream at them as they do you "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me." I haven't worn my sneaks since that night because of the mud and garbage that seeped into them, but I think it's time I put them back on. Yeah man, Rage is all the rage and so much more.
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