RATM: 21 years later

 

 

 

 

The show I was never meant to see:

On Aug. 3 2022  I finally saw one band that has eluded me three times before. The legendary band Rage Against the Machine played Capitol One Arena in Washington DC to a sold out stadium. 

 

RATM first came onto my radar back when they toured with Wu-Tang in the late 90's. As a middle school student, I didn't get permission from my parents to go to Camden NJ to see the legendary line up. Now as a father myself, I don't blame my parents. Some of my older friends attended the show and came back to our neighborhood describing an awesome concerts. At the time, I was jealous of the tour concerts they wore around town showing off their attendance.

Flash forward to 1999/2000 and RATM dropped the album Battle of Los Angeles. I was now a junior in high school and really started getting into the band. RATM's discography was now becoming a regular play on my friends car cd players. Also in 2000 a mega tour was announced between RATM, The Beastie Boys and At the Drive In called "The Rhyme and Reason Tour". We were set to see the show in the Meadow-lands. The Beastie Boys was my all time favorite band in high school, so this was dream come true for me. To my dismay the show was cancelled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-OsxqZvm0g

 

 After the band broke up I thought that I would never see the band again. My uncle George contacted me in 2019 and let me know that the band was rumored to go on tour in 2020. He was able to secure tickets and we were set to go in 2020 in Camden NJ. Insert Pandemic Here. The show was cancelled and pushed back to 2021, only to be cancelled again. Finally the show was rescheduled for 2022, but the concert was pushed out of the Camden line up. Luckily our tickets could be redeemed to witness the concert in Washington DC. My friend Matt and I planned to go after my Uncle couldn't make it. After three cancelled shows in my lifetime it was finally happening.

The show did not disappoint. All original members were on stage and sounded great in person. Tom Morello even broke out the double axe guitar. Zach had previously broken his foot on an earlier show, but was still main stage sitting on storage container. This did not slow him down as he rocked out the whole time. Even though I do not share in the same beliefs politically as RATM, their music rocks and was worth the wait. The sound was in the stadium was clear and the band performed perfectly together.

The tour has now concluded after wrapping up four sold out shows in Madison Square Garden. The band is more relevant then ever and begs the question, "Will we ever see a new album?"

By: Nerd Content Creator and Poker Host @Eatahoagie

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