Rage Against the Machine Reform
It seems that the long-dead musical force against the powers of fascism has decided to reform for the Coachella festival in California, running from 27th to 29th April. I was surprised, though I suppose the lack of any real solo output from Zack de la Rocha hints that he isn't finding a good outlet for his views. The less said about Audioslave the better; I caught some of them covering Killing in the Name of on the German Live 8 feed and while Cornell did a good job on vocals it did seem to be reducing the song's point somewhat.
So in this story from the NME, http://www.nme.com/news/rage-against-the-machine/26197 Morello is quoted as saying:
"Is it a coincidence that in the seven years that Rage Against The Machine has been away that the country has slid into right-wing purgatory? I think not."It occurred to all of us that the times were right to see if we can knock the Bush administration out in one fell swoop, and we hope to do that job well."
Well given the Bush administration only has two years left, unless Jeb steps up to the plate (and maybe it's a little early for that) I think they probably missed their opportunity in 2004, didn't they? Even so, it'll be good to see them promoting important left-wing issues again. Just a quick look over their website, http://www.ratm.com/, shows a wealth of information about political awareness over music, and hopefully a resource that will now be brought fully up to date but given this is apparently a one-off performance who can say.
Morello's comment makes it seem more likely that full reunion is underway otherwise I can't see one festival gig having any effect on Bush's last days in power. Or rather, in 'power', given how little actual control he seems to have over his own Presidency. There have been a lot of reformations recently (the Jesus and Mary Chain are also reforming for Coachella, incidentally) so it's good to see one you might hope is motivated by more than just money.
There are still three-day tickets available for the festival should you fancy going, though this Guardian blog someone un-earthed makes for slightly depressing reading if you're a British festival goer: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/01/would_you_like_fries_with_your.html
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