Rage Against the Machine | Paradise Rock Club | January 19, 1993
By PHOENIX STAFF | October 25, 2006
Rage Against the Machine back in the early 90s |
On a Tuesday night in 1993, Rage Against the Machine were little more than a buzz band on their first headlining tour for their homonymous major-label debut. At that point, the band had essentially no radio play, but they drew about 500 people to the Paradise anyway. They had the songs, the politics, a great rhythm section, guitarist Tom Morello’s arsenal of wah-wah and turntable impersonations, and charismatic vocalist Zack de la Rocha. The crowd knew the words, and when de la Rocha, after his between-song rants against capitalism, led them in sing-alongs to such subtle hooks as “Fuck you — I won’t do what you tell me,” he’d celebrate the metal-guitar release with two or three long bunny hops across the stage and a heedless, breathtaking back flip into the mosh pit. |
Were you there? Wish you were? Seen better? Tell us about it below.
Related:
Revolution rock, Flashbacks, April 21, 2006, Résumé: Selected + Mixed by Citizen Crew, More 
- Revolution rock
It’s an incongruous sight at first: Tom Morello strumming an acoustic guitar emblazoned with the words “Whatever It Takes.”
- Flashbacks, April 21, 2006
These selections, culled from our back files, were compiled by Chris Brook and Jessica McConnell.
- Résumé: Selected + Mixed by Citizen Crew
The French labels Kitsune, Ed Banger, and Institubes have clogged dance bins with aggro, monochromatic, twitchy filter metal.
- A night in Guantánamo
I’d volunteered to spend the night in the replica cell (which is modeled on the ones at Gitmo) because we’ve all heard stories about unlivable conditions at Gitmo but can’t come close to imagining what it must be like.
- Beyond bhangra
Shankar, who’s now 26, has been paying dues as a sitarist since she was eight.
- The Constantines + Sontiago & Dilly Dilly + Kid Koala
An interstate concert-going misadventure...
- Get heavy with it
It’s a late weeknight and I’m washing dishes in the kitchen when I hear my wife’s voice from down the hall: “Come look at this!” Wicked Wisdom perform "Something Inside of Me" on The Late Show with David Letterman (YouTube)
- Strummer vacation
The first two installments of the enormously popular Guitar Hero franchise were designed and developed by Harmonix, a Cambridge-based company famous for employing a horde of musicians.
- A Kind of homecoming
The scene: four chairs, four acoustic guitars, four semi-famous, sensitive singer-songwriters on a small stage in a room with a few dozen chairs.
- The Coup at ZuZu
Boots Riley, the incendiary, politically minded hip-hop poet, didn’t cause anything close to a ruckus Sunday night at ZuZu.
- Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso is Brazil’s Bob Dylan, Burt Bacharach, and Paul Simon all rolled into one.
- Less
Topics:
Live Reviews
, Entertainment, Music, The White Stripes, More
, Entertainment, Music, The White Stripes, Rage Against The Machine, Tom Morello, Zack de la Rocha, Less
