Rage Against The Machine, etc. guitarist Tom Morello & Rise Against took to the stage at First Avenue in Minneapolis, MN yesterday, January 30th, for a show billed as ‘A Concert Of Solidarity & Resistance To Defend Minnesota‘. That concert was held in protest of ICE and the recent actions of the U.S. administration related to immigration under President Donald J. Trump.
While Al Di Meola and Ike Reilly were advertised in advance, the very special guest teased for the event wound up being none other than multi-platinum Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer Bruce Springsteen. Morello and Springsteen have long been friends and have played together numerous times.
Springsteen also issued his anti-ICE protest track “Streets Of Minneapolis” earlier this week, performing it live onstage last night for the first time as well. Morello for his part, opened his set with the following address prior to launching into a cover of Rage Against The Machine‘s blistering anti-police brutality/racism anthem “Killing In The Name” [transcribed by theprp.com]:
“Brothers and sisters, thank you for welcoming us to the battle of Minneapolis. My friends, if it looks like fascism, sounds like fascism, acts like fascism, dresses like fascism, talks like fascism, kills like fascism and lies like fascism, brothers and sisters, it’s f*cking fascism. It’s here, it’s now, it’s in my city, it’s in your city and it must be resisted, protested, defended against, stood up to, exposed, ousted, overthrown and driven out. By who? By you. By me.
Minneapolis is an inspiration to the entire nation. You have heroically stood up against ICE, stood up against Trump, stood up against this terrible rising tide of state terror. You’ve stood up for your neighbors and for yourselves and for democracy and for justice. Ain’t nobody coming to save us, except us. And brothers and sisters, you are showing the way.
To that end, we would like to begin our program with an old Native American war chant. We encourage you to singalong, in this very room Prince created a revolution, now it’s our turn.””
Indeed, Morello‘s set was chockful of protest anthems culled from throughout his catalog, running as follows:
“Killing In The Name” (Rage Against The Machine) cover)
“Soldier In The Army Of Love“
“Hold The Line“
“One Man Revolution“
“Keep Going“
“Bombtrack” / “Know Your Enemy” / “Bulls On Parade” / “Guerilla Radio” / “Sleep Now In The Fire” / “Bullet In The Head” (Rage Against The Machine cover medley)
“Cochise” / “Like A Stone” (Audioslave covers)
“This Land Is Your Land” (Woody Guthrie cover) (feat. Tim McIlrath, Ike Reilly & Al Di Meola
Morello would later return to the stage with Springsteen for a performance of Springsteen‘s “The Ghost Of Tom Joad“. Rage Against The Machine themselves first covered that track back in the mid 90s. Morello and the other performers from the bill also joined in with Springsteen for a set-closing cover of John Lennon‘s “Power To The People“.
100% of the proceeds from the show will be given to the families of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom were killed this January in ICE-involved shootings amid ongoing immigration raids conducted by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota.
