Rage Against The Machine - Finsbury Park, London (06.06.10)

Posted by David Hayter on 06.08.2010

People power and Rage Against The Machine defeated Simon Cowell and the music Industry machine; now it's time to celebrate with a mini-festival, free of charge!



Now before I get down to the nitty gritty of reviewing the gig itself I should give some background as this was no ordinary gig, and I appreciate that for those of you from outside the UK you might not know just why this particular event was so special.

In the UK the Christmas Number One used to be fun little race between novelty feel good songs, a time when the music industry went all irreverent and just had shameless fun. However over the last five years Simon Cowell’s X-Factor (the latest evolution of his “American Idol” style talent show) has monopolized the Christmas number one slot, taking away the novelty, and the interest from the singles charts. In the run up to the 2009 race you could see that a feeling of genuine resentment had built up towards the X-factor and the sense of entitlement the X-factor winner had towards the number one slot. So when it was rumoured that eventual winner Joe McEverly would sing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” a campaign emerged to get the original Journey track into the charts. The chosen song was then changed to “The Climb”, originally by Miley Cyrus, but Journey still managed to chart at number seven despite absolutely no industry promotion.

Now changing the song didn’t stop the backlash; as logistics experts Jon and Tracy Morter created a facebook group called “Rage Against The X-Factor” that had the goal of sending “Killing In The Name”, Rage’s legendary protest song, to number one. Now I won’t go into the boring details, but it turned into one of the most remarkable chart battles and media spectacles of all time. Then in true fairy tale fashion the grass roots people power defeated the industry cogs and claimed the Christmas number one, in the ultimate “Fuck You I Won’t Do What You Tell Me” moment. Now Rage were so taken aback by the whole escapade that they promised a free festival in the centre of London to celebrate at their own expense; even going so far as to let the fans pick the support (I voted for Gallows, Tool & Lily Allen), and that is exactly what happened this past Sunday (well expect Lily & Tool obviously).

So now the story telling out the way lets get into the bands shall we starting with:

Gallows

It was immediately apparent as soon as we’d worked are way past the sniffer dogs, the wall of security and I.D checkers, that a very special atmosphere was developing. Everyone was in the mood for a good time, and there were circle pits galore the minute opening act, hardcore all stars Gallows took the stage. Gallows looked thrilled to be onstage, walking on to “God Save The Queen” before launching into a cover of “God Save The Queen” by the Sex Pistols. It was clear they were having a few technical problems; the sound was a little low, and Frank’s mic volume could have been higher, but it hardly mattered as they blew through a series of visceral crowd pleasing anthems. Key singles “Abandon Ship”, “Orchestra Of Wolves” and “London Is The reason” led to mass sing alongs and Frank kept the crowd amused with a series of anecdotes and a whole host of jokes at Justin Bieber’s expense (who happened to be playing on the other side of the Thames at the same time). Now I may be more than a little partial as I was having the time of my life in the wall of death during the anthemic “Belly Of A Shark”, but my friend who is certainly not a hardcore punk fan, said he enjoyed Gallows more than he expected to, and much more than he did on record. Gallows set was a short sharp and brutal burst of energy that was punctuated by some well chosen covers especially an anthemic final singalong to The Clash’s “I Fought The Law”. By the end of the set the sound problems were all but forgotten and my only complaint was a vicious knee to the groin I took in the pit.


Roots Manuva

I was worried for Roots when he took the stage, as during the various DJ sets the crowd had ignorantly booed Rihanna’s “Rude Boy”, and I feared his hip hop swagger would enrage the crowd. However I was gladly proven wrong, the crowd was very hospitable and by the end of his set they were thoroughly into Roots' laid back groove. Now Mr. Manuva's performance was not among his best, and didn’t match up to the show he put on at Reading Festival in 2006, but he played his role very well. He was the cool down act after Gallows, the chance for everyone to catch their breath, to have a dance, have a beer, smoke some weed and chill. Despite a leisurely pace he did manage to pick it up towards the end of his set, climaxing with “Witness The Fitness” (what else). Roots had a broad smile across his face, and his band just looked happy to be in front of such big crowd and his optimism was infectious as the sun blazed overhead. Ultimately he wasn’t there to wow, he was there to serve as a change of gears, and on that level he succeeded.



Gogol Bordello

Gorgol Bordello may just be the perfect support act. With their unique brand of gyspy punk they have the knack of allowing a crowd to cut loose and just have fun. Granted the crowd couldn’t understand 90% of what they heard, but Bordello's eastern European folk stomp just forces you to dance and usually with great stupidity. For the duration of their forty minute set the crowd bounced relentlessly as they blew through stomp-a-longs “Not A Crime”, “My Companjera”, “Wonderlust King”, “We Coming Rougher” and a ludicrously over the top version of “Break The Spell” that had a wonderful pagan-istic quality. Of course they closed proceedings with a rambunctious version of “Start Wearing Purple” which saw their Brazilian member rapping from the middle of the crowd atop a big bass drum. In many ways Gogol are a complete clusterfuck of a band, but they are the perfect warm up act, getting the crowd all limbered up and it in true party mood.



Rage Against The Machine


Setlist
1. Testify
2. Bombtrack
3. People Of The Sun
4. Know Your Enemy
5. Bulls On Parade
6. Township Rebellion
7. Bullet In Your Head
8. White Riot (Clash Cover)
9. Guerrilla Radio
10. Sleep Now In The Fire
11. Freedom

Encore:
12. Killing In The Name

The atmosphere was absolutely electric as the crowd waited for Rage to take the stage. They were introduced by a rather tasteless cartoon making fun of Simon Cowell, which the audience seemed to enjoy. The silly little video was soon forgotten though, as Rage unleashed “Testify” instantly turning the entire field into one giant whirl pool of competing mosh pits. I can’t emphasize how special an atmosphere had been created, I’ve seen thousands of gigs, but I’ve never experienced a gig like this one. It seemed every last individual was intend on having a great time and throwing their entire body into the performance. There was to be no standing and nodding, no waiting for the singles, this was balls to the wall from the word go.

Rage kept the pace fast and furious, opting for big sing-a-longs and circle pit starters rather than any of their more drawn out works. “Bombtrack” didn’t give the crowd a second to breathe, and even the usually limp “People Of The Sun” was transformed into an uncontrollable beast infront of such an insatiable crowd. Rage then unleashed their secret weapon; “Know Your Enemy”, the absolute show stealer; with it’s jagged oscillating intro melding into a monster blustering power chord laden riff, the track simply erupted, and so did the crowd. It’s at this point I lost my mate as he went flying into one of the multiple pits that surrounded us, and I wasn't to see him again for well over an hour.

From that point on Rage could do no wrong, even a sceptic like myself couldn’t deny the next hour and fifteen minutes of pure feel good celebratory joy. The unexpected airing of “Township Rebellion” with it's contorted bass groove and it’s anthemic call to arms chorus was a real delight. It served to showcase the crowds passion as they sang along to ever word of such a rarely aired album track. The rebellious shout along chorus of “Why Stand On A Silent Platform, Fight The War, Fuck The Norm” seemed incredible fitting given the circumstances.

From that point on it was business as usual set list wise, with all the huge hits and mosh pit slayers that we've come to expect from Rage. Yet the performance was still sprinkled with those special moments that make a gig stand out from all the others. Zac paid tribute to Jon and Tracy Morter for starting the facebook campaign and brought them on stage to hand over a giant check which was immediately given to the Shelter charity on stage. Zac even announced that Rage had given 100% of their revenue from the "Killing In The Name" singles sales to the charity. After the feel good festivities Zac talked about rock & roll's great rebels, the men who didn’t always have the most talent, but who had the belief and the heart. Zac then ran through a list of great rockers from the Sex Pistols to The Who before concluding with Joe Strummer and launching into a cover of The Clash’s “White Riot”. Which in the centre of London town went down an absolute treat with the crowd, who knew each and every last syllable of the classic track.



Outside of the afore mention brilliance of “Know Your Enemy”; “Bullet In Your Head” and an ultra-epic beefed up rendition of the sprawling and expansive “Freedom” really set the crowd alight, and rounded off the set perfectly. Then of course the lights dimmed, and Joe McEverly’s “The Climb” played over the PA system (to large boos). With a series of clippings and quotes appearing on the big screen finally displaying the sales figures from Christmas number one chart battle; before flashing up in huge letters “YOU MADE HISTORY”. Then the lights rose, Rage returned to the stage, and closed proceedings with “Killing In The Name” giving the crowd that final perfect celebratory moment.

After such a euphoric performance, with such an intense crowd, and perfectly judged undercard that was of course free of charge it’s impossible hard to find fault with Rage’s performance. Some have complained that their set was too short, but it is more in the context of “they were amazing, but I wish it had gone a little longer”. However, I disagree, having seen Rage at Reading 2008, I saw a brilliant live band, with a limited sound, who over exposed themselves over the long stretch. During a two hour set, Rage’s sound is diluted, it becomes repetitive, and quite frankly it exhausts the crowd; as we found out yesterday an hour and ten minutes was the perfect length for an adrenaline packed thrill ride. It wasn’t the best performance I’ve ever seen, but it was mighty close, and as a one off event it had a special feeling and vibe like no other. As Rage themselves pointed out this was a moment in time, this was history in the making, it has never been done before, and it may never happen again, and to be their in person, is something that I and 39,999 other people will never forget.

The 411: Was it the greatest live performance I've ever seen? No, Rage can't match the versatility of live legends Daft Punk and Metallica; but they can give you an adrenaline rush like no other. Over an hour and fifteen minutes Rage delivered a fast paced, feel good, crowd pleasing performance that sent everyone in the 40,000 strong crowd home happy. The undercard selection was superbly judged with Gallows, Roots Manuva and Gogol Bordello all fulfilling a unique and vital role. However what made this gig special, and it was truly special, was not the undercard, or the fast paced Rage set list; it was the feel good atmosphere, the ultra enthusiastic crowd and the historic nature of the show itself. Honestly, who can complain when your treated to a people power party, with four of the best and biggest bands in the world, completely free of charge? Not me that's for sure.

Final Score:  9.5   [  Amazing ]