Final July, on the second cease of their world tour in Chicago, Rage Towards the Machine’s frontman Zack de la Rocha severed his left Achilles tendon that left a mere 8 inches of the tendon intact. He soldiered on for 17 reveals, performing whereas seated on a flight case—together with a three-night run at Madison Sq. Backyard—however they skipped the tour’s European leg, and by October the band had canceled each remaining date, 38 in all. The reveals have but to be rescheduled. In a latest interview with Rolling Stone, guitarist Tom Morello mirrored on the truncated tour, the opportunity of rescheduling the missed dates, and their latest nomination for the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame.
“Zack toughed it out that evening,” Morello stated. “And for the subsequent 17 reveals, he was extra compelling as a frontman sitting on a field in the course of the stage than 99 % of the frontmen within the historical past of all time.” He additionally tried to clear the air about which COVID-19 precautions had been enforced on the reveals (“no followers at any present within the historical past of Rage Towards the Machine have ever had a vaccination requirement to be within the room. Ever.”) and their use of Ticketmaster’s controversial dynamic pricing.
Morello defined that apart from “about 5 to 10 %,” each different ticket bought to their reveals price $125. The exceptions had been topic to dynamic pricing, which adjusts ticket costs to the most-wanted seats based mostly on demand. The apply not too long ago triggered an uproar amongst followers of Bruce Springsteen, whose newest reveals noticed the face worth of tickets climb as excessive as $4,000. Morello says each penny collected over $125 went to charity. “In New York Metropolis, we raised over 1,000,000 {dollars} for activist group charities,” he stated. “There was a complete of about six or seven million raised on that tour in what was mainly a Robin Hood tactic.”
When pressed for particulars on when Rage Towards the Machine may carry out once more, or whether or not or not they had been even nonetheless a band, Morello demurred, saying he himself didn’t know.
“Rage Towards the Machine is just like the ring in Lord of the Rings,” he stated. “It drives males mad. It drives journalists mad. It drives file trade folks mad. They need it. They need the factor, and so they’re pushed mad. If there are Rage reveals, if there are usually not Rage reveals, you’ll hear from the band. I have no idea. When there’s information, it is going to come from a collective assertion from the band. There isn’t a information.”
Rage Towards the Machine is among the many present class of nominees for the 2023 class of the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame. It’s the fifth time the band has been nominated. The group not too long ago got here below hearth from Courtney Love, who criticized the Rock Corridor’s “Sexist Gatekeeping” in an op-ed for the Guardian. Morello has stated he’ll attend if the band is inducted, however averted speculating why they’ve been shut out 4 instances.
“I do know there’s a humorous mixture of those who do the voting,” he stated. “It’s folks which are already in. There’s an age part. There’s a leaning mainstream part as effectively. I feel that Willie Nelson deserves to be within the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame, and artists from numerous genres do as effectively. Should you noticed any of the Rage Towards the Machine reveals final summer time, you’d be hard-pressed to make an argument towards us.”
Morello is at the moment getting ready for upcoming dates together with his band the Freedom Fighters Orchestra. Final yr he joined Wayne Kramer’s MC5 revival on a brand new music known as “Heavy Lifting.”
Tom Morello on the Music of His Life