Reunited Rage Against The Machine fill United Center with social commentaries amidst the crowd-surfing

Photos by Andy Argyrakis

When Rage Against The Machine roared out of the early 1990s, there was no other band combining rap, rock, metal, funk and politically-charged commentaries in the pursuit of social justice, spreading its message through grassroots efforts long before social networking even existed.

Though an initial reunion happened in 2011, the group comprised of singer Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk is finally back after two years of pandemic-related delays to address many of the seismic global changes in their absence for the aptly titled “Public Service Announcement” Tour.

After filling up Alpine Valley Music Theatre and the United Center, an encore performance at the latter venue was in order, and though the ferocious front man sustained an injury the night before that forced him to remain seated, it made no difference when it came to the musical and topical merit of the nearly 90-minute night, which also benefited from 45 all-too-brief minutes by conscious hip-hop geniuses Run The Jewels.

In fact, not a second had passed in terms of Rage’s ability to rev up and let loose for the bone-crunchers “Bombtrack,” “People Of The Sun,” “Bulls On Parade” and “Bullet In The Head” with lightning-fast movers Morello and Commerford more than making up for the leader’s immobility.

Along with the thunderous Wilk, they of course spent the intervening years alongside Chris Cornell in Audioslave and Public Enemy’s Chuck D in Prophets Of Rage, but the focus was exclusively on Rage Against The Machine regulars “Guerrilla Radio,” “Know Your Enemy,” “Freedom” and a hard rock recasting of Bruce Springsteen’s folksy “The Ghost Of Tom Joad.”

Throughout it all, the foursome exclusively let the songs and screens do the talking (outside of de la Rocha admitting his horrible pain and extreme thankfulness for the audience’s support), especially when it came to images of a burning police car, fleeing refuges, the border patrol and plain “abort the Supreme Court” text that left zero room for ambiguity.

Those leanings may (or may not) have gone down differently to the guy wearing the pro-Joe Rogan podcast shirt or those in medical grade N95 masks walking nearby, along with the anti-corporate activist on the street who had a fan reply something along the lines of, “I don’t listen to the lyrics. I’m just here for the music.”

But no matter what side of the aisle one stood on, everyone’s voices were united as they screamed every word to “Killing In The Name,” and while it unquestionably packed more levity than ever before, even those who just came to crowd surf and head bang weren’t likely to have found a better soundtrack.

For additional information on Rage Against The Machine, visit RATM.com.

For a list of upcoming Jam Productions concerts, visit JamUSA.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at the United Center include Roger Waters (Jul. 26); Windy City Smokeout (Aug. 4-7); Swedish House Mafia (Aug. 13); Kendrick Lamar (Aug. 19); Duran Duran (Aug. 20); Seventeen (Aug. 25); Eric Clapton (Sept. 12-13); Post Malone (Sept. 14); Kid Cudi (Sept. 16); Panic! At The Disco (Sept. 17); Roxy Music (Sept. 19); The Killers (Sept. 21); Mary J. Blige (Sept. 25); Gorillaz (Oct. 3); Iron Maiden (Oct. 5); Harry Styles (Oct. 6-14); The Who (Oct. 12); Lizzo (Oct. 16); Smashing Pumpkins (Nov. 5) and Arcade Fire (Nov. 12). For additional details, visit UnitedCenter.com.

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Reunited Rage Against The Machine fill United Center with social commentaries amidst the crowd-surfing

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