Rage Against the Machine Lead March to RNC After Police Shut Down Impromptu Show

The rumors of a secret Rage Against the Machine concert turned out to be halfway true late Tuesday afternoon, when local blogs confirmed the free show on the lawn of the Minnesota State Capitol at 6:30 p.m. But, reportedly, as Anti-Flag — one of the scheduled performers for the Ripple Effect music festival — introduced RATM, police suddenly shut the concert down, despite the fact that the festival had a legal permit until 7 p.m. When the angry crowd's chants of "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" failed to start the show, frontman Zack de la Rocha and guitarist Tom Morello performed an a cappella version of "Bulls on Parade," handing a megaphone back and forth between them for the lyrics and music — Morello making the "bow-wow-wow-wakka-chikkas" with his mouth.

The pair led the assembled crowd on a march towards the heavily guarded Xcel Center and the Republican National Convention. The roughly 2,000 to 3,000 marchers met up with another group of poverty protesters and they reportedly got as far as the main barriers in front of the Xcel Center. About 200 people allegedly refused to disperse from an intersection and police fired tear gas at the protesters. The police said the protest had been broken up but there are reports of continuing scuffles between protesters and police. "I think it's important to call out the economic crimes at home and the war crimes abroad, while they're here," a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/09/03/rage-at-the-rnc-its-important-to-call-out-the-economic-crimes-at-home-and-the-war-crimes-abroad/" target="blank">Morello tells Rolling Stone. "Not let them get away with it while the world's media is focused here. It's important to get that message out ... to have that amplified alongside the B.S. messages being spouted from the podium."

Related Stories:
• Rage at the RNC: "It's Important to Call Out the Economic Crimes at Home and the War Crimes Abroad"
• Tom Morello, Mos Def Narrowly Avoid Riot at Minnesota's Take Back Labor Day Concert

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

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