Fans of Rage Against The Machine had been waiting for what seems like a lifetime for them to play live again. The Gods of Rocks granted the wishes for the legions of fans around the world and announced that the band would be hitting the road. Then…………….”Covid said hold my beer.” Those dates were delayed again and again until it was finally time. Fans in attendance at the July 31, 2022 show at the SOLD-OUT PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina had waited over two years since the originally announced date for this show to finally happen. They received another “here we go again” moment when RATM frontman Zack de la Roca injured his leg/foot (a torn ACL was later revealed) four songs into a show in Chicago a week before the Raleigh, NC one. Instead of canceling the remaining dates, he went forward with the tour, and the rest of that show in Chicago, by performing seated for the remaining shows. Yeah, the vision in your head of that scenario just doesn’t seem right, but he made it work. 

The rap duo of Run The Jewels opened the show and got the already hyped up crowd even more elevated. After their awesome set, the crowd awaited for the show to begin. The stage was very streamlined with very little on it. The entire backside of the stage was a video screen that the band utilized creatively on several levels that made you think. Wait, a band made me actually think at a rock show? With th eimages and statements that RATM throw at you, it definitely makes an impact. The house lights went down, a “public service announcement” started off the show as the band took to the stage. Crew members carried de la Rocha to center stage where he sat down and took his spot. The band opened with “Bombtrack” and went from 0 to 120 MPH in about one second! In the hundreds of shows that I have attended in my lifetime, I have never experienced an intensity level like this. It was all throughout the entire arena from the band to the crowd to the consession stands. de la Rocha’s injury may have kept him in one spot and from jumping all around for the show, but it seems to have pushed him to be even more focused than before. The guy delivered more energy seated at this show than most artists do who are free to stand and move around. o say that the guy was on fire is a bit of an understatement! Witnessing guitarist Tom Morello play live is truly an amazing thing. His brilliance that flows from that guitar is highly underrated in the world of music. He truly doesn’t get the credit that he deserves. The rhytm section of bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk do not get the credit that they deserve for laying down a damn solid foundation for Morello to paint onto and de la Rocha to wax poetically to. 

The intensity never slowed down throughout the show. There were no power ballads to raise your lighters or phones to. The brief pause between songs gave you just enough time to catch your breath before Rage hit the gas pedal again. The show was one of the most amazing things that I have ever witnessed. Will this new found comradery between these guys and the environment around them fuel them to give us fans some new music? 1999’s Battle of Los Angeles was the last album that we received from these guys, so I know I’m not the only fan hoping for some new tunes. Time will tell.

Review and pictures by I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price