RAGE AGAINST THE
MACHINE
Live at Finsbury Park (DVD)
(Eagle Rock)
Think about all the political and social
causes Rage Against The Machine might
sonically support today through its infectious rap-rock blend: Occupy Wall Street,
Black Lives Matter, opposing the
Keystone Pipeline, shedding light on the
migrant crisis in Europe, to name a few. A
motherload of topics, to be sure, yet the
band last released an album in 2000. To
get a sense of how the band could captivate a live audience and how it could
mobilize the public for action, one only
has to check out this five-year-old concert, released on DVD and Blu-Ray. The
genesis of the show occurred in late 2009,
when a social media campaign was
launched by two UK residents to make
the 17-year-old song "Killing In The
Name" the No. 1 song on the UK singles
chart during Christmas-time, dethroning
the X-Factor winner in the process. Well it
happened, and although not exactly a
ground-breaking social cause, the movement did show how music fans could pull
off a grassroots campaign and stick it to
the corporate music man. Singer and
frontman Zack de la Rocha promised the
band would perform a free concert to celebrate, which was set in London on June
6, 2010. "Testify" opens the show, with
80,000 spectators bouncing in rhythm to
de la Rocha's own jumping. Multiple cameras quick-cut from the band to the
crowd, which continues to bounce as if
operating with a hive mentality. The video
production and sound are sharp.
Throughout the hour-plus concert, de la
Rocha's vocals come through loud and
clear, overpowering the