Rage Against the Machine

Show Information:

Date:

1997-05-14

Venue:

Liberty Bowl

Location:

Memphis, TN USA

Tour:

PopMart

Notes:

Opening For U2. Mary Morello introduced the band. Incomplete setlist is taken from a partial review by Bill Ellis in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal: In what seemed an odd double bill - thrash vs. posh - rap-metal group Rage Against the Machine was U2’s chosen opener. Their music may have been about as different as hand grenades and hand lotion, but the bands’ politics - one using anger, the other irony - went hand in hand after all. Mary Morello, mother of Rage guitarist Tom Morello, introduced the Grammy-winning band, imploring more freedom of expression in the music industry. Freedom of the groove was more like it. Morello proved there’s yet a new chapter being written in the Led Zeppelin book of heavy metal riffs. When he wasn’t pounding away in military precision, Morello got some of the most innovative sounds out of six strings since Jimi Hendrix. His solo in Bulls on Parade suggested in stream-of-higher-consciousness order: the static signal on a walkie-talkie, machine gun fire and the record scratching of rap turntables. It was the perfect foil for frontman Zach de la Rocha, who jumped around as if dodging land mines. His rap delivery, a cross between Noam Chomsky and the Beastie Boys, created a mosh pit for the mind. On Killing in the Name of, those that burn crosses became “the same that burn churches.” And in one particularly fierce rocker, de la Rocha ended by quoting the lyrics to The Ghost of Tom Joad, Bruce Springsteen’s folk encapsulation of The Grapes of Wrath.

Previous show:

1997-05-12 - Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX USA

Next show:

1997-05-16 - Death Valley Stadium Clemson, SC USA

Setlist (Incomplete):

• 1 The Ghost of Tom Joad (Bruce Springsteen cover)
• 2 Bulls on Parade
• 3 Killing in the Name
• 4 Freedom

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