L.A. Rising Festival Featuring Rage Against The Machine, Muse, Rise Against, plus guests – at the Los Angeles Coliseum – Los Angeles, CA

Thousands of Angelenos flocked to the enormous LA Coliseum on Saturday to witness the largest rock concert to take place in our city in years! Headlining the appropriately titled LA Rising Festival were hometown political rockers Rage Against The Machine who were playing for the first time in LA in over a year. Not only was LA Rising to be a historical concert, but it also was set up as an enlightening event with a re-education camps set up for fans to get involved with both local and national organizations.

The day began with an early door time as there were already thousands of fans lined up along the blvd anticipating a full day of music ahead of them. By 3 pm an estimated 10,000 fans were up front in the general admission pit and scattered around the stadium in time to welcome the first band of the day. Hailing from south of the border, El Gran Silencio brought a Mexican flavored style of music blending elements of Ska, Reggae, Ranchero and hard rock with a vocalist often rapping over their up tempo cuts.

Fans may have not been familiar with their material, but outbursts in Spanish directed towards the crowd gained the fans approval throughout their set. It didn’t matter that it was a sunny 80 degrees out either, thousands skanked away and circle pitted to El Gran Silencio’s songs like they were long time fans. Silencio’ walked off stage Saturday afternoon with a much larger fan base than they had originally arrived with.

Following Silencio’ was hip hop phenom Immortal Technique who quickly silenced nay sayers as he won over thousands of rock fans with his political hip hop attack. Hailing from New York, Immortal Technique brought with him powerful stage banter like never witnessed before. In between every song welcomed an issue in which he felt the world needed to deal with and more importantly all who were in attendance needed to be informed of. His set had the crowd swaying and bopping around which could not be duplicated around the time Lauryn Hill hit the stage.

Her performance from the very beginning was marred with sound problems that ultimately reflected in her less than top notch set. The hits were played, but it wasn’t enough to match the energy brought forth by the 2 previous acts.

By the time Rise Against arrived with their gigantic yellow American flag banner, thousands more had poured into the venue to cheer on KROQ’s newest Punk heroes. Not ones to waste any time, Rise pulled out a number of their radio hits to rally on the growing crowd. Circle pits broke out in all zones as their up tempo songs touched the hearts of thousands of teenagers who made up a large percentage of the crowd. An acoustic number may have slowed things down in the pit, but not once did their momentum halt during their near hour set. There were many factions of Rise Against fans in the crowd, it’s obvious they’ve become punk rocks largest band since The Offspring.

As night fell, thousands more made their way into the stadium which for the first time was now filled to capacity. Muse took the stage following the grandest intro any opening band in recent years has called their own. Their stage production made the band appear to be much more than just 5 guys on stage, in fact they seemed to be giants from the future playing a style of rock music unlike any other from this planet. Their light show beamed the deepest reds and bluest of blues while large video screens displayed images of both the band and their videos mashed together. Lead vocalist Matthew Bellamy was the first front man of the day to hold power over the entire crowd as every word he sang and every movement he made dazzled the enormously huge audience.

Muse’s show was that of a headliner and an impressive one that never let down as every hit they’ve become known for in the last 8 years were played back to back. Super Massive Black Hole, Uprising, Map of the Problematique were among the many hits that set the place off, and are reason enough to call Muse the heaviest non metal band in existence. Being the talented bunch of musicians they are, they creatively worked Led Zeppelin riffs into their songs and did a cover of The Animals classic House of the Rising Sun, the crowd loved it! It began to look like Muse’s show as the crowds roar after every song seemed to hit decibel levels unheard of for an opening band. It was obvious to everyone why Muse are Kroq’s biggest hit of the last decade and why their synth heavy Depeche’ inspired operatic rock is so addicting.

To add to their already impressive production, hundreds of inflatable beach balls painted like eyes were distributed throughout the stadium which literally made for a tremendous spectacle and a sign of Muse’s grand finale. Hardcore Rage Against The Machine fans were won over as Muse put on the best show an opening band has ever put on since Guns N’ Roses opened for The Rolling Stones 4 nights in a row at the very same stadium in 1989.

Following Muse would be difficult for any band, but Rage Against The Machine were well equipped for the task as 60,000 fans cheered the bands long awaited arrival. It was then that Rage’s siren intro kicked in and sent chills up and down the spines of all. The historical venue’s Olympic torch was lit and the marvelous columns were illuminated a communist red. Video screens with footage of Rage’s numerous protests and newspaper clippings rallied up the crowd and with a moments notice the band kicked into Testify, a protest track off The Battle of Los Angeles lp.

Something went horribly wrong as the front of house sound died only 15 seconds into their set, it was not pretty. Things got scary as the loudest BOOOO the world have ever known was the only thing anyone could hear. Thankfully all sound issues were fixed as Rage could continued on with their monumental set.

Vocalist Zach De La Rocha worked all sides of the stage as he hopped around belting out songs of protest and justice calling for the participation of fans to sing along. He urged fans to get involved and make a change in the world as songs like Bullet In The Head and Know Your Enemy and Bulls on Parade took on a more serious tone. Their production may not have been as fancy as Muse’s, but Rage packed in a number of effects that wowed thousands as strobe and laser beams flowed with their songs tempo’s and breakdowns.

As with any Rage show, things are expected to get a bit out of hand, and with 60,000 fans in attendance how could it not? Fires sprang up throughout the mosh pits as fans gathered around them like primitive war dance rituals, it was obvious that Rage fans were there to let loose and have a good fucking time. Though with curfew approaching, their set had to be hurried so the band closed on the highest note ever with the single that made them the controversial band that they are, Killing in the Name (of)!

There is a feeling of unease that one feels when the masses are screaming “Fuck You, I wont do what you tell me!” over and over at the top of their lungs. Thankfully there wasn’t a riot and fans behaved themselves enough to make LA Rising a concert that locals are going to be talking about for years to come. There isn’t going to be another show to in the area that will match the ferocity and energy of LA Rising for a very long time. I think many realized that too, and it showed in their deafening applause as Rage left the stage.

Thousands then poured into the streets and left the stadium without incident as no outrageous behavior called for the all too familiar at a Rage show swat team. At the end of the day, six very different bands played on the same bill and sold out a venue that only giant dinosaur bands rarely play. There was strength in diversity and a higher purpose than just head banging. L.A. Rising was a success, and every one who attended should feel proud to have been a part of the largest concert this town has hosted in a very long time.

Rage Against The Machine set : Testify, Bombtrack, People of the Sun, Know Your Enemy, Bulls on Parade, Township Rebellion, Bullet in the Head, Down Rodeo, Guerrilla Radio, Calm Like a Bomb, Sleep Now in the Fire, Wake Up.
Encore: Freedom, Killing in the Name.

-Louie Bones-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 

 

 

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