Rage Against the Machine @ Alpine Valley 8/24

Come wit it now!!!



Those words, and the ensuing bad ass guitar work that followed, drew so much excitement from the crowd of bouncing, sweaty, muddy bodies that I thought for a moment that the whole place might explode. The mosh pits were the scariest I have ever seen. The energy that pulsated throughout that magnifcent rural Wisconsin ampitheatre was electrifying. Rage fans screamed along with every establishment challenging word. And that was only the second song. I had always wondered how exactly those turntable sounds were made. The ones that do, in fact, come from Tom Morello's guitar (the back of the faded red star t-shirt I bought proclaims "all sounds made by guitar, bass, drums and vocals")

Rage Against the Machine broke up in 2000, and although they have only played a handful of shows since, they seemed like had not missed a beat and played together brilliantly. This was the last stop of their ever so brief 6 show tour, and the only appearance not at a festival. Zack's fierce, passionate vocals tore through that crowd of 30,000 plus, and Morello's unique, anthemic riffs kept the place on their toes the entire show. This was as much a political rally as a concert. The only time I have felt so much political energy was at an anti-war march on the capitol of Washington DC to commererate the first anniversary of Paul Wellstone's death in 2003.

On the 6 hour or so drive from Minneapolis to the magical East Troy, WI, we discussed what the demographic of this show would be. Having seen Tom Morello's show (as The Nightwatchman) at the 7th St Entry last month, I assumed that it would be the same crowd, made up overwhemingly of young white men. This was by and large the case here as well, but there were more females around, and a fair amount of Latinos tambien.

Alpine Valley is a magical venue. It is without question the most beautiful place I have ever seen a show, and this was a beautifully show.


"They're scared of YOU!"







It started raining as we were entering the enormous parking lot and getting settled into a nice pre show buzz. The rain came down hard for a solid 45 minutes, never letting up for a second, then gradually went away, leaving everything soaked and covered in mud. The only time i have seen so much mud was at Phish's last stand in rural Vermont, when the show was nearly cancelled due to the ground being so saturated that cars could not safely drive into the venue. That show went on, however, and so did this one. Some normal entrances to the hill were completed blocked off and staffed by security warning people not to attempt to climb the hill, but some rage fans didnt comply. ("Fuck you I wont do what you tell me!") More than one person, including myself, made a feeble attempt to enter the concert through one of these blocked off entrances, but were defeated by slippery mud and steep inclines, and ended up covered in mud.

I heard more than one person say it was the best show they had ever seen. Not the best Rage show, the BEST SHOW THEY HAD EVER SEEN. I don't know that I could ever make that grand declaration, but I do know that this was, without question, one of the best shows I have ever seen. It just absolutely fucking rocked.