i confess i am a metal fan from way back
my very first memory of the love of music being zed leppelin and peep durple
from a heavy-metal loving, long-haired, motor-cycle riding, rifle-toting (bunnies) youth from way back
thankfully things have moved on a bit from there though i haven't ruled out a return to m-cycles
and also there is something lurking in there that needs the h m fix on occassion
totally sated by cranking up this dvd from time to time
they are not only a seriously good metal band but they have a sound political outlook and stance
this dvd is a live concert in mexico city in 2000 prior to the breakup of the group (now reformed)
there's not too much that can be said about the courage of this outfit and their social awareness
get this typical mid-concert quote from lead singer zack de la rocha (thanks to wikipedia) -
A good friend of ours once said that if the same laws were applied to U.S. presidents as were applied to the Nazis after World War II every single one of them, every last rich white one of them from Harry Truman on, would have been hung to death and shot—and this current administration is no exception. They should be hung, and tried, and shot. As any war criminal should be. But the challenges that we face, they go way beyond administrations, way beyond elections, way beyond every four years of pulling levers, way beyond that. Because this whole rotten system has become so vicious and cruel that in order to sustain itself, it needs to destroy entire countries and profit from their reconstruction in order to survive—and that's not a system that changes every four years, it's a system that we have to break down, generation after generation after generation after generation after generation…Wake up.[RATM wikipedia]
but returning to the concert in mexico sees the band launch into a couple of full-on numbers
and then break to an explanation of the problems facing the zapatista's in mexico
a revolutionary outfit fighting to maintain basic living standards
in light of their government hooking up with nafta which guarantees the lands of the indigineous people
to the highest bidder and hence sees a huge displacement of people from their homes
this sets the scene for the rest of the concert
full-on rap-metal music played supremely confidently and with a very angry singer up front
the crowd loves then and you can't help but think this is the best kind of american foreign policy
a bunch of americans actually in sympathy with their need for basic rights
zack de la rocha prowls around the stage screaming into his microphone and whipping up the crowd
guitarist tom morello has his baseball cap lowered over his head and also leaps about
while concentrating on pulling the most incredible sounds from his guitar
bassist and drummer provide a totally solid rhythm that never misses a beat
one of those bands where you just look and wonder how 4 of them can create such an amazing racket
during another break between songs zack does another voiceover describing people power at work
during the wto meetings in seattle in 1999 despite police violence against the protesters
and the same at the 2000 meeting of the imf in washington dc
ok tempting to say this is all a bit dated now but the same regimes are still at it
and in this year of 2007 rage against the machine have reformed so we can expect some more enlightenment
the highlight of the set for me and it seems the crowd is the song that launched them
killing in the name of.....
complete with the huge singalong chorus of f..k you i won't do what you tell me (repeat, repeat, repeat)
which of course sees the crowd work themselves into a total band-adulating frenzy
mind you i'm not complaining much either as it is such a contagious song and lyric
i'll never forgive david letterman for his snide remarks when introducing them on his show
back in the days when they were in the grasp of corporate record companies
but maybe these days they have wised up and doing their own thing
rage against the machine
great name, great band, great dvd
repeat play mandatory
