Rage Against the Machine and Run the Jewels at Madison Square Garden
On Sunday, August 14, 2022, the reunited Los Angeles band Rage Against the Machine concluded their five night, sold-out run at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY during their “Public Service Announcement” tour. The tour was originally scheduled to take place in 2020 but was postponed multiple times due to COVID-19 and began last month in Wisconsin. RATM was joined on the tour by Run the Jewels, which features rappers Killer Mike and El-P backed by DJ Trackstar. RTJ were joined by saxophonist Cochemea Gastelum (of Daptone Records) for their final song of their set, “A Few Words for the Firing Squad”. RTJ’s setlist relied heavily on their newest record, RTJ4, but they also included tracks from their prior releases such as “Blockbuster Night Pt. 1” and “Stay Gold.” It had been a few years since I last saw RTJ live and it was nice to see both Killer Mike and El-P perform at MSG while realizing that that nearly ten years ago, I attended Killer Mike’s intimate show at NYU.
I first saw Rage Against the Machine live for a benefit for Mumia Abu-Jamal in January 1999 which also featured Beastie Boys and Black Star that was my first arena concert. Before the end of that year, I saw them again at Roseland Ballroom and at Woodstock. I initially hadn’t planned to attend their reunion but after seeing photos, videos, and other friends raving about them, I decided to attend their last one (infinite thanks to Ellen for getting our tickets).
On Sunday, Rage’s set began with “Bombtrack” from their first self-titled record. At all their recent performances, Zack de la Rocha remained seated due his leg being in a cast. However, it seemed like he couldn’t help himself from kicking out and making other movements while sitting on stage. At one point, De La Rocha called Tom Morello the greatest guitar player on the planet and Morello genuinely seemed touched by that statement from his friend and bandmate. Since RTJ opened the show, “Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)” from RTJ2 was performed during RATM’s set since Zack is featured on the song.
The gallery above consists of photos I captured from my seat of the final night at Madison Square Garden.