Rage Against The Machine @ Reading Festival, Reading

Before Rage Against The Machine even took to the stage this performance had taken up a large portion of my thought. I've always held Rage up as one the great bands of our generation, when I heard they were to reform and headline the saturday of the (no-longer Caring) Reading Festival I was of mixed opinions. Get to see Rage.. fantastic but it doesn't seem fitting with the ethos of the punk band of our times, but I was always going to be there.

The crowd they drew was BIG, one of the biggest I've seen at Reading. It showed to me the absolute appeal of Rage and the unity of fans of all genres and across many age ranges. I was making my way through this crowd as they took to the stage dressed in full Guantanamo Bay prisoner outfits including black head bags, to be honest I was not sure 100% they weren't going to be making a silent protest like their performance here in back in 93'. But they were here to play! 'Bombtrack' was first and sounded amazing, the P.A. was loud and the band were tight as ever. I was reassured to hear that it didn't sound nostalgic and the band were as into it as much as they have ever been.

A well weighted set followed, I personally would have liked more off 'Renegades' but I suppose originals come first. Tom Morello's guitar work is astounding, nobody plays like him or can even achieve sounds like him and he manages it so effortlessly. Timmy C and Brad Wilk are a rhythm section that you could listen to by themselves and be entertained, their groove is what makes the band work. Zak De La Rocha I think still believes what he's saying and that is the most important thing about the performance tonight. He looks near tears at points in the set and although still thinking Tony Blair is prime-minister his political statements sound honest.

Ending obviously with 'Killing In The Name' I left feeling entertained, at the end of the day they are here to play music and I wasn't going to let any cynicism dampen my experience. They are people of good hearts and they play good music. Rage may be headlining one of the biggest money making UK festivals but where else would you put a band of such appeal, besides who would you rather see up there.... Razorlight??!

Set List

'Bombtrack'
'Testify'
'Bulls On Parade'
'People Of The Sun'
'Know Your Enemy'
'Bullet In Your Head'
'Born Of A Broken Man'
'Guerrilla Radio'
'Ashes In The Fall'
'Calm Like A Bomb'
'Sleep Now'
'Wake Up'
'Freedom'
'Killing In The Name'

Jonathan Beyer