Rage Against The Machine -- New Haven, CT -- December 5th, 1999

DigMySpanky · #1 08-22-2010, 04:58 AM

So when I was a young man I was really into RATM. Their rhythm section was my favorite. Morello was on some other shit. My friends and I would get so hyped up to their music we'd have four person mosh pits in my moms basement with the stereo dimed. When The Battle of Los Angeles came out, I stayed home from school and my ma went into work late so she could bring me to the record store to go get it. When the tour dates were announced, my dad got four tickets and took me and my two best friends to the show. I had been to concerts before, but this would ultimately lead to me going to as many shows as humanly possible for the rest of my life.

We got to the show and went to our seats which were great because we were close, and we had nobody in front of us. The opening act was the infamous Gargantua Soul from New Haven. These guys sucked big balls but played about 6 shows a week back then so they were probably the openers by default.

Gang Starr came out and tore it down. Even if you don't like hip-hop you were banging your head. Guru was rapping and swinging a sledge hammer and Preem was playing some hard hitting tracks. If you couldn't hear the music and could only see the crowd, you would've thought Rage had already taken the stage. The pit for Gang Starr was bigger than that of the shitty G Soul.

Next was At The Drive-In. I kinda liked them going into the show. I came out of the show a life long fan. These guys play with intensity and emminate enough energy to give you a seizure. If you try to fight their current, you will no doubt be diagnosed with Epilepsy after the show. Big Mexican Afros, loud guitars, fast drums, and lots of yelling. It's the post-punk band the whole family can enjoy. Well, except my dad. He hated them.

Next up is Rage. Fuckin A. Zach comes out and says: "Good evening, we're Rage Against The Machine from Los Angeles, California." And immediately they go into:

Bulls On Parade
Testify
People of The Sun
Calm Like a Bomb
Bullet in The Head
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Sleep Now in The Fire
Born of a Broken Man
Know Your Enemy
No Shelter

War Within a Breath
Guerilla Radio
Freedom
Killing in The Name

Good old fashioned old school Rage. When Morello brought out the red Double-Neck, we knew what time it was. They played so tight it was unreal. Morello's solos sounded perfect. My dad was astounded that the solos from Sleep Now in The Fire and Calm Like a Bomb could be replicated live. It was a great show and just about every year since, I've always celebrated December 5th in some way.

Seeing these guys again in 07 at RTB was great, but nowhere near the intesity of this show. It's probably not as easy to be so rebellious and upstart-ish when you're 57 years old or whatever the fuck age they've hit by now.

Anyway, there's the list.

jhdeity · #2 08-22-2010, 07:10 AM

Cool review. Rage are still one of my favorite live bands and I would have loved to be able to catch At The Drive In live. I saw Rage at a political concert in DC before Evil Empire came out and to hear all the 1st album songs live along with other rarities like Zapata's Blood & Darkness of Greed is something I'll never forget.

mankvill · #3 08-22-2010, 12:51 PM

Rage are amazing and all their albums are perfect or near-perfect. I hope I get to see them some time.

JLRedWing13 · #4 08-22-2010, 01:59 PM

I want to see them so badly.

El Gordo · #5 08-22-2010, 04:19 PM

I saw Rage on that same tour. A mind-blowing experience to be sure. When they broke into the "Fuck you" part in Killing in the Name, all the lights in the venue went on to reveal the entire crowd just rocking out in a pretty thick haze of smoke. I still get chills when I think of it.

adamclark52 · #6 08-22-2010, 07:40 PM

I was at the Toronto show that was on this tour. I can't remember the exact date but I think it was in November of that same year. All I can really remember is they opened with Testify and Zach didn't say a word to the crowd. And the cheesy "Battle of TORONTO" flag in the background that had been sprayed over so many times. But it was a good show.

DigMySpanky · #7 08-23-2010, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamclark52

I was at the Toronto show that was on this tour. I can't remember the exact date but I think it was in November of that same year. All I can really remember is they opened with Testify and Zach didn't say a word to the crowd. And the cheesy "Battle of TORONTO" flag in the background that had been sprayed over so many times. But it was a good show.

I can't believe I forgot about the "custom" banner each city got. Hahaha glad some other people here got to see the show.