'Rage Against the Machine' performs after 11 years, protests Roe v. Wade
Jul 11, 2022
Washington [US], July 11 : After 11 years of being inactive, including a delay caused by COVID-19 delay, the rock band 'Rage Against the Machine' hosted more than 30,000 people on at Wisconsin's Alpine Valley Music Theater.
'Rage Against the Machine' fans have been waiting for the band's big reunion experience since it first announced this current tour back in 2019. The original plan was to start at a small venue near the border in El Paso, Texas, set to follow the 2020 US presidential election, as per Variety.
During the group's two-year postponement, the list of political frustrations in the United States has seen a growth. The band unleashed this uneasiness throughout their performance.
In response to the Supreme Court's recent decision, Roe v. Wade, the band projected a statement with Zack de La Rocha crying out for freedom on Saturday night.
"Forced birth in a country that is the only wealthy country in the world without any guaranteed paid parental leave at the national level. Forced birth in a country where Black birth-givers experience maternal mortality two to three times higher than that of white birth-givers. Forced birth in a country where gun violence is the number one cause of death among children and teenagers." And to conclude: 'Abort the Supreme Court'."
Shortly after news of Roe's reversal broke on June 24, Rage announced that USD 475,000 in ticket sales for the Alpine show, as well as two shows at Chicago's United Center, would go to reproductive rights organisations in Wisconsin and Illinois.
During their hour-and-a-half set, Rage played the best of their discography and treated fans to a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad" from his 2000 covers album Renegades. It's been 23 years since Rage released original music. The group had not performed together since 2011.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the show was dialogue-free, with the group occasionally leaving the stage as projections of gruesome scenes played behind them. Scenes included an El Paso police car on fire, a Border Patrol agent posing with an agitated German Shepherd and a blindfolded boy smashing an ICE agent's pinata, reports Variety.
The band will continue their reunion tour through April next year with stops in 12 countries.
