Rage Against The Machine rages at Coachella
Rage Against The Machine played its first concert in seven years on Sunday night (April 29th) to close the Coachella Festival in Indio, California, giving the packed audience classics from all three of the band's original studio albums, as well as a brief sample of the political rhetoric that the group was known for in its Nineties heyday. Opening with "Testify" from The Battle of Los Angeles, Rage ripped through 12 songs before the quartet encored with its signature tune, "Killing in the Name." Although singer Zack de la Rocha kept his comments to a minimum during the show, he did say during "Wake Up" that the Bush Administration "needs to be tried, hung and shot. We need to treat them like the war criminals they are."
Guitarist Tom Morello told us that one of the reasons Rage decided to return was to speak out on the current political climate: "Is it coincidence that in the seven years that Rage Against The Machine has been away, that the country has slid into a right-wing purgatory? Hard to say. Just taking a look at the dire times that we live in and, you know, Rage was certainly the most outspoken political voice in rock music throughout the Nineties, I mean, I think it's long overdue that, you know, Rage comes back and has a say."
Rage, which performed at the first Coachella event in 1999, played on Sunday night in front of one of the largest main stage crowds in the event's history, according to Billboard.com.
Other songs that the band played included "Bulls On Parade," "People of the Sun," "Down Rodeo," "Bombtrack," "Bullet in the Head," "Guerilla Radio" and "Sleep Now in the Fire."
Rage's set capped off the three-day Coachella extravaganza, which also counted the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Fratellis, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire and the Silversun Pickups among its 124 artists.
Rage Against The Machine has four more shows on its schedule for this summer as part of the Rock The Bells tour.
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Guitarist Tom Morello told us that one of the reasons Rage decided to return was to speak out on the current political climate: "Is it coincidence that in the seven years that Rage Against The Machine has been away, that the country has slid into a right-wing purgatory? Hard to say. Just taking a look at the dire times that we live in and, you know, Rage was certainly the most outspoken political voice in rock music throughout the Nineties, I mean, I think it's long overdue that, you know, Rage comes back and has a say."
Rage, which performed at the first Coachella event in 1999, played on Sunday night in front of one of the largest main stage crowds in the event's history, according to Billboard.com.
Other songs that the band played included "Bulls On Parade," "People of the Sun," "Down Rodeo," "Bombtrack," "Bullet in the Head," "Guerilla Radio" and "Sleep Now in the Fire."
Rage's set capped off the three-day Coachella extravaganza, which also counted the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Fratellis, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire and the Silversun Pickups among its 124 artists.
Rage Against The Machine has four more shows on its schedule for this summer as part of the Rock The Bells tour.
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