Apparently, they’re still mad, even after an 11-year break.
Rage Against the Machine is touring again, and in a recent show, they took aim at the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that conferred a right to abortion.
During a show Saturday at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in Wisconsin, the band put captions on a large screen behind them that, with one saying “abort the Supreme Court,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
“Forced birth in a country that is the only wealthy country in the world without any guaranteed paid parental leave at the national level,” read one caption. “Forced birth in a country where Black birth-givers experience maternal mortality two to three times higher than that of white birth-givers,” said another.
“Forced birth in a country where gun violence is the number one cause of death among children and teenagers,” said a third caption.
Then in all caps came: “ABORT THE SUPREME COURT.”
“Abort the Supreme Court,” @RATM proclaim via video message @AVMTheatre Saturday for their reunion tour kickoff. Review and set list @journalsentinel https://t.co/3xD7McEriO pic.twitter.com/1PLXbq2dFY
— Piet Levy (@pietlevy) July 10, 2022
Lead singer Zack de La Rocha yelled out “yeah!” and “freedom!” over guitarist Tom Morello’s guitar riffs as the captions were shown.
The band, whose last put out an album in 2000 and hasn’t toured in more than a decade, joined a slew of musicians, artists, and actors who have scorned the high court’s decision. Last month, Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong suggested he plans to relocate, saying “there’s just too much f***ing stupid in the world to go back to that miserable f***ing excuse for a country.”
“I’m … renouncing my citizenship. I’m f***ing coming here,” he said in London while on tour with Fall Out Boy and Weezer. “Oh, I’m not kidding, you’re going to get a lot of me in the coming days.”
At the Glastonbury Festival in June, singer Phoebe Bridgers led the crowd in a chant against the Supreme Court. And singer Olivia Rodrigo said on stage, “I’m devastated and terrified. So many women and so many girls are going to die because of this.”
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.