Rage Against the Machine Talks Roe v. Wade Reversal in First Show Since 2011: 'Abort the Supreme Court'

Anna Lazarus Caplan
·2 min read
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Rage Against the Machine Talks Roe v. Wade Reversal in First Show Since 2011: 'Abort the Supreme Court'

Rage Against the Machine returned to the stage for the first time in 11 years with a concert over the weekend — during which the band spoke out against the Supreme Court's recent reversal of Roe v. Wade.

The band, led by frontman Zack de La Rocha, played for more than 30,000 audience members at Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin, on Saturday night –– their first concert in a series of dates for a tour more than two years in the making.

While the 90-minute concert was short on dialogue, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Rage projected images on a big screen along with captions that shared the bandmates' collective opinions.

"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, according to the outlet.

Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against The Machine

Gie Knaeps/Getty

More captions then appeared on the screen, according to Variety, including "Forced birth in a country where Black birth-givers experience maternal mortality two to three times higher than that of white birth-givers," "Forced birth in a country where gun violence is the number one cause of death among children and teenagers" and "Abort the Supreme Court."

Other "gruesome" images included an "El Paso, Texas police car on fire, a Border Patrol agent posing with an agitated German Shepherd and a blindfolded boy smashing an ICE agent piñata," per the Wisconsin newspaper.

Rage originally announced the tour in 2019 and planned to kick it off at a small venue near the border in El Paso after the 2020 Presidential election, Variety reported.

Zack de la Rocha, left, and Tim Commerford of Rage Against The Machine's performs at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Zack de la Rocha, left, and Tim Commerford of Rage Against The Machine's performs at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

AP Photo/Branimir Kvartuc

RELATED: Pink Tells Fans Who Oppose Roe v. Wade to 'Never F—ing Listen to My Music Again'

While the band has not released original music in 23 years, the group "played the best of its discography," including a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad," from its 2000 album Renegades.

Rage Against the Machine joins a list of musicians who are letting their voices known about the Supreme Court verdict.

RELATED: A Canadian Radio Station Played Rage Against the Machine for 30 Straight Hours: A 'Tad Disruptive'

​​Pink went on a Twitter rampage last month, telling those who support the decision to overturn the court's landmark decision to not listen to her music.

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"Let's be clear: if you believe the government belongs in a woman's uterus, a gay persons business or marriage, or that racism is okay- THEN PLEASE IN THE NAME OF YOUR LORD NEVER F---ING LISTEN TO MY MUSIC AGAIN. AND ALSO F--- RIGHT OFF. We good?" the pop singer, 42, wrote on June 25.