Watch Rage Against The Machine play their first show together in 11 years, rail against Supreme Court

Rage Against the Machine have finally reunited for their first show in 11 years on their pandemic-postponed Public Service Announcement tour.

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The tour was initially planned to kick-off two years ago on that now-infamous period in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to any plans for live in-person performances, and then postponed until 2021, before March 2022 was named. That date too proved to be a challenge, but at long last RATM are back together and back on the road, performing a 16-song set at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in Wisconsin on 9 July that included their landmark classic Bombtrack, Testify, Guerrilla Radio, Know Your Enemy, Sleep Now In The Fire and of course, Killing In The Name.

The band also included their cover of Bruce Springsteen’s The Ghost Of Tom Joad for the first time in more than 20 years, having last performed the track in July of 2000.

Watch footage from Rage Against The Machine’s first time onstage together in 11 years below.

Rage against the machine just put on the sickest, angriest show in front of 38K and it was AWESOME. pic.twitter.com/Y9oAJlwi98

— DCA+✌🏻 (@DCAoutloud) July 10, 2022

The band also used their show to send a pointed message at the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn the ruling of Roe V. Wade which protected the right to have an abortion, should someone choose to. “Forced birth in a country that is the only wealthy country in the world without any guaranteed paid parental leave at the national level,” the band’s message on the giant screen behind them begins, forcefully illustrating the issue. “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. Abort the Supreme Court.”

https://twitter.com/WUTangKids/status/1546212526156910592?s=20&t=QMto9iXRUFgWOCLAQai6jA

Guitarist Tom Morello recently made headlines when he hit back at fans who were offended by his political beliefs, emphatically stating, “I have a number of thoughts. One is that you don’t trigger a free speech exemption when you pick up a guitar, that right remains intact. Secondly, people who are offended by my politics on Twitter or Instagram, please know it’s because you weren’t intelligent enough to know what the music that you were listening to all these years was about.”

The rocker continued, making no qualms about the message the band intends to send: “For the music, you’re welcome, but if you’re a white supremacist or a proto-fascist, that music isn’t written for you — it’s written against you.”