05.01.07 (AP) Thousands of sunburnt fans watched as reunited political rockers Rage Against the Machine took the stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Grinning, lead singer-rapper Zack de la Rocha's fist was right up there with them. Seven years after the quartet broke up following de la Rocha's departure, the band returned with a vengeance to close out the three-day festival east of Palm Springs on Sunday night. Stomping, shouting into his microphone, grabbing his curly hair and inciting the audience to "keep fighting," de la Rocha powered through songs ranging from the bass heavy "Bulls on Parade" to the anthem "Killing in the Name." Drummer Brad Wilk, bassist Tim Commerford and guitarist Tom Morello, who wore a hat with the word "UNITY" on it, completed the lineup. "They changed my life. They made me a liberal," said sweat-drenched history teacher Rafael Ramon, 25, who had waited in a crowd packed shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the stage all day. "All of America needed Rage to come back. They've been missing," he said. The band last played the festival during its first year in 1999. An estimated 180,000 people attended the festival over the three days but police said there were few problems. Fewer than 100 people were arrested, most of them for investigation of drug or alcohol use, and there were a couple reports of people being treated for drug overdoses, Indio police spokesman Ben Guitron said early Monday morning. Triple-digit temperatures on Saturday also led to some cases of heat exhaustion, he said. Anticipation for Rage started building Saturday, when Morello performed a solo act of protest songs as the Nightwatchman. Morello wore a harmonica and swapped his standard electric guitar for an acoustic with the words "whatever it takes" scrawled on it. He dedicated tunes to "rebel girls and women," unions, farm workers and the audience.
[Permalink]