“It’s not anyone’s fault.” Those were the words still ringing in my ears as I left the semi-chaos that was the night’s true headliner (I think it’s safe to say Wilco had fewer fans tonight). Despite—or probably because of—their inspired performance, Rage Against the Machine’s set had major crowd control problems, replete with injuries, near-injuries and an air of foreboding tension.
Performing in front of a giant red star, the band plays right now with scintillating chemistry. Opening with “Testify,” which ended with de la Rocha screaming “The war is right outside your door!” was insane. Then, the sick “Bulls On Parade.” At which point, the thought occurred to me, “This is genuinely dangerous, incendiary music—but in a good way!” And I hadn’t even started to take in the crowd of at least 50,000 before me.
By midway through “People Of The Sun,” (incidentally, performed with incredible energy), de la Rocha pulled the plug. So huge and densely packed was the crowd that the people—not just hapless teenage girls, mind you—were getting their ribs crushed up front. De La Rocha did the absolute right thing (the only thing he could do) by delivering some words of calm. “Look out for each other,” went one. “Please take a few steps back,” went another. “We got a lot of fucked up shit on the streets, dirty politicians running things and now this war,” went one more. “We don’t need people coming to a Rage Against The Machine show to get hurt.” Thank you, Zack.
Then it starts to dawn on me that this is just a really bad cocktail, so to speak. As they launch into “Bomb Track” and “Know Your Enemy” and the exact same result happens—huge seas of people moshing or jumping while the non-participating get crushed—you realize Rage is sending mixed messages. On the one hand, “Stay calm.” On the other, “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me,” to use a phrase from “Killing In The Name”. So if I’m a fan—and I am, I might add—I’m going to have a heck of a time figuring out which Zack I should pay attention to. Rage does not, it should be noted, make “crowd control” music.
Still, let’s talk about a bit more about the performance. De La Rocha was in incredible form, as was the rest of the band. Charging the stage to Morello’s detuned hard rock nightmares (Morello left his new guitar strings flagrantly hanging off the head of his guitar), he was as close to a genuine riot-inciter as I’ve seen (again, in a good way). He delivered a scathing diatribe on conventional politicians, warning tomorrow’s guest (we hope?) and the Democratic nominee that if another war starts in Afghanistan, the oppressed in this country will start to burn shit down. It was lefty, yes, but it was also a genuine, politicized statement. No pussyfooting around.
After viewing the show from the West side, I tried to make my way down into the field but the police had closed off one of the entrances and were only allowing people to exit there. I saw numerous mosh pits much further back north, where I had previously thought all the chaos was taking place. And all along the side of the field, the cheap wood fences had been trampled. One disturbing scene: A few 40ish Cubs fans (I know because they were decked in Cubs regalia) were camped out in the crowded slopes of the valley, harassing any girl that tried to pass through, and trying to cajole them to have a few smuggled beers with them. Ick.
Towards the end of the set, I ran into a shirtless Rage fan towards the back of the park, shivering in the nighttime chill. “Joe” came here from Seattle specifically for Rage and he had the physique of a running back. Still, he said he could only stay “down there” (among the few thousand die-hards) for four songs before he had to escape. His shirt had been torn off him and his ribs were being crushed. What’s more, there were others who were clearly not prepared for the huge rush. “People would try and lift some of these girls who had passed out up out of the crowd,” Joe said. “But they would just collapse before anyone could lift them up.” He also told me Rage almost never stops shows for crowd control and that this was the first time he’d seen them do so. The kicker: “Wow, what an amazing band,” he says.
Not to be academic about a catastrophic situation, but Rage delivered on their promise tonight. We were seeing De La Rocha’s anti-authoritarian call-to-arms manifest, right?
We’re only as good as our eyes and ears, though. What, dear readers, did you see out there? Leave your stories below.
this was the best concert ever, the mosh pits did get a little out of hand but I don’t know why small woman were putting themselves in there, but in the end everyone chilled out a bit.
it was so great live, I’m only 19 but I can definitely say I will be looking back on this one 20 yrs later.
I was about 100 feet away from the stage by the middle railings. When they came on, I was afraid for my life and the people around me. I was somewhat thankful I was right by the middle section. I knew if it was too bad I can climb out and get to safety and a lot of people did that. The security and staff event need massive amounts of credit for their job tonight. They provided people with water continuously and helped hundreds, if not thousands of people, just from where I was.
After the second verbal warning By RATM, the crowd subsided (slightly) enough to make it an enjoyable concert. Still couldn’t move though. I could not have even imagined what it would have been like in the middle. And if Rage had left the shoe because of the problem, there would have been a riot. During the Rage huddle about the security, me and the people around had a riot plan.
The music was great and I like how he mentioned they weren’t for Obama but that he better get the troops out was nice. But there was a high ironic point with the plea for brothers and sisters to treat each other nicely and then get treated to “Bullet in the Head.”
Hey man,
I thought that I was set for an epic night of picture taking and filming with my camera from the front row of Rage Against the Machine at Lollapalooza 2008. Literally, just as I was snapping my first shot… see ya! The joke was on me, as the crowd had their first surge and blew me over the rail. Looking back, I’m lucky that I only lasted 2 minutes up there and didn’t get caught on the barricade. Check it out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/berklieblog/2726783755
what i saw was probably the sickest performance ive ever seen. i was on crutches so unfortunately i had to be about 200 yards out for my own safety, but there were still mosh pits opening up all over. the show being stopped multiple times should show rage critics that even though they have angry violent lyrics, the anger is focused on the establishment, not the people.
as for the crowd size, i feel bad for wilco, because i really have no idea who would have been at their set. i saw kanye, a chicago favorite, headline a few years back and his audience paled in comparison to that of rage. and the people hung on every word that zach spoke. it would be kind of funny though to see how many of the fans out tonight will end up voting for mccain (probably not many but after hearing about the reaction neil young got on the csny freedom of speach tour, it would be a fun little experiment).
on a lighter note, even though i am a die hard sox fan, if was nice to see tom morello wearing a cubs hat and pointing to it with a shit eating grin on his face after a little ribbing from sox fans in the front row. it just goes to show that sports are the great equalizer when it comes to humans, be they poor, rich, republican, democrat, black, white, etc.
OMG!!!! IT WAS SO CRAZY!!!! I HAD A CHILI DOG THROWN AT MY GRANDMA, AND SHE TOLD ME I WAS 8.. HAHA IM NOT 8, I WAS BORN IN A MULE? WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT MARK? DID YOU GET THE TACO SALAD MIX? HAHAHAHAH LOLZ COMMENT MY PICS.. WENDYS LAST THURSDAY WAS RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE!! ZACK HAS A WEIRD WEINER, I DONT THINK ITS CUT!! ANYBODY WANT TO BUY A SAFEWAY GIFT CARD OFF OF MY BROTHER LUKE!!! BULLS ON PARADE, SICK SHOW BRO, SHARKS ARENT DANGEROUS.
Yea I was there. I was by the sound stage with my girl and had to take her out by plowing over people who thought I was moshing…LOL She couldn’t breathe. 1st Rage concert and I loved every second of it. Rage you guys rocked the house down. Can’t really blame the crowd, it was just the energy of the music, but it f*ckin rocked. My girl loved it as well. Hope ya’ll unite again and drop some new truth in a album. Thanks again for an awesome night that I’ll never forget.
“…that if another war starts in Afghanistan…”
as a self proclaimed rage fan i’d hope you’d at least know enough about the world to realize a war in afghanistan has been going on since 2001.
Couldn’t help but wonder about the crowd though — are they intelligent enough to do something, take action, support causes, to make this country better, smarter, stronger? It didn’t prevent 8 years of the worst President in the history of this country, and a lame Congress. How many of those at the concert are just rage addled and directionless (politically)? Maybe that’s ok if you think music is a means to many ends and people should take what they want from it. But seems a waste of the fire and intelligence of this message. Pumping your fist with your Ipod on, screaming out the lyrics in a field with 50,000 people — what good is it if you don’t harness that energy for positive change?
I’m an older fan; loved this concert; glad no one was seriously hurt. I want to see someone pick up the torch from the Clash and others who believe people truly can make a difference. People want to blame government, but remember people, you elect the government. It starts at the individual level. Sorry if I killed your buzz, but concert’s over. The war is still at your door. Now do something.
The crowd was crazy last night. I walked into the pit area right after the Gutter Twins to wait for Lupe Fiasco and was a bit surprised how rowdy some of the fans became 5 hours before Rage was scheduled to perform. During Brand New, I was about 50 yards away from the stage when a mosh pit opened up - it was a really bad scene as I saw a dozens of non-participants (including me) get knocked into by 200+ pound men. Although it became it annoyance and a hazard, the mosh pits allowed me to get about 30 yards closer the stage, so I had a really good view. After Brand New, I figured that the crowd might “settle down” a little bit for Lupe considering the differences in music, but I was wrong. Towards the end of his act, people started moshing again, and everybody was getting crushed up towards the stage. Thousands of people were on the verge of falling on top of each other and small women that ventured their way to the pit had looks of regret on their faces.
I am a very open minded guy when it comes to music and their associated culture, so I took the mosh pits in as a unique experience. On my long way out of the pit after Lupe, I came across alot of cool people and did their best to get me out of the scene. My point is, the crowd showed signs of chaos way before Rage even got on stage. Security could of made warnings way before Rage, perhaps during Brand New, to tell them to settle down. Obviously, the crowd would of been rowdy to a certain extent regardless of any warning, but it is disappointing to hear that RATM had to stop the show several times to tell to the crowd to take it easy. It would of been ashame for a festival of this magnitude and stature if thousands of people were severely hurt.
Overall though, I give props to RATM for taking initiative to calm the crowd down. If they had not done that, who knows what could of happened last night.
Rage fans are STUPID. I was on columbus street and it was MAYBE 200 fans that got in. … The fans are probably the reason they hardly freakin play. Rage is not about that, Against the machine, not each other!
GATE CRASHERS SUCK!
I was positioned up front, and let me tell you it was terrifying. Matthew Lurie is a shallow thinker if he cannot differentiate between de la Rocha’s call to arms against repressive government and his pleas that fans have concern for their fellow human beings who were being crushed and injured. Yes, it was an AWESOME performance, amazing! — but I don’t agree that the music and a plea for for basic safety was a mixed message. Also, Lolla sold out completely on Saturday, with an estimated 225,000 people in the park, and it felt — and looked — as if 90% of them were at Rage. It was insanity and scary as hell. I got evacuated over the security fence and was deeply grateful, despite losing my fantastic view of the stage.
Y’know, I’m glad they’re back together…even if it’s not confirmed to be a full-out reconstitution of the band…but I don’t think I can quite forgive them for being broken up during the years we’ve needed them the most.
RAge Against The Machine Rocks!!! This was a Crazy show, lots of fun, the crowd went on natural high. I was by the west side exit gate when sometime halfway between the show, the gate must have opened behind us and you see people charging in from the outside. It was scary, but I somehow expect something like this to happen. And much more you become vigilant when you attend RATM concerts or the likes. Anyway, the crowd who charged the gate were about 1000+ or more of them. I was somehow pushed to the side. Two people, I saw, got trampled. I thought that somehow was hurt or there was a fight, but luckily they were just RATM fans who perhaps did not get tickets because it was already sold out. I wish I could have taken photos, LOL!
Overall, Rage Rocks!!! Who wants to listen to Kanye anyway tonight!??? If it was nine inch nails for day 3 I could have attended.
Yeah, I got elbowed in the face. And, yeah. I got my toes stepped on and bruised.
But people, this IS Rage Against the Machine. Is it any suprise to anyone that the chaos that ensued last night wasn’t by accident? I take it none of you (well, most of you) probably didn’t see the madness that was in East Troy, WI last fall when RATM hit Alpine Valley in the midst of a huge storm. Mudslides, mud people, muddy beers. Hell, I saw an elderly lady trying to climb out of a mud hill and instead got dropped to her face when a guy slid down the same hill. Madness. And I was no where near the stage for that show.
Last night, I snaked my sweaty, stinky, adrenaline charged body up to about the 3rd row or so, backpack of survival gear in tow, and had one of the most intense nights of my life. And despite the near deafening noise of the crowd on top of the band as well as the constant threat of people simultaniously swaying i groups, in my estimation, to be as big as a few thousand at a time, I still was able to enjoy myself. Yeah, you’ll get bumped into and an occasional elbow will hit you in the eye (my left eye is a little fuzzy still), but if you are saying is was out of control is a fuckin’ joke.
Alpine Valley, in my eyes, was fart more out of control, due to the rain and the muddiness.
Lollapalooza, thank god, was dry, minus the water, sweat, and beer. But I expected, and would have taken part if I didn’t have a overpriced ticket, a mass gate crashing. The thing that gets me are these ill-prepared youngsters that are to small to get themselves involved in the mosh-scene. Im in no way a big guy (24 years old and about 180 lbs. on a good day), but im in good enough shape to bounce around the pits and stay afloat. I fell once or twice, and helped numerous people get back up. But thats all part of the game.
Long story short; get outta the water if you don’t know how to RAGE!!
Great fuckin show guys! Lets Do A TOUR!!!!!
well that was easily the most insane concert i’ve ever been to. i started out on the left of the stage near the side speakers but once zach started singing the whole crowd shifted and i ended up about 15 ft from the front. I kinda realized that this was not a good thing but i just kept pushing around others to keep in it. Being only 5′11” and 150lbs i was struggling but felt like i was one of the stronger ones. (could have been just the adrenaline bc after i felt like i could take on the world). Once zach told everone to calm down it helped a bit but eventually it ended up being the exact same.
and i thought that the ending was absolutely perfect since, after all, we chanted “Fuck you we’re not gonna do what they tell me” to get them for an encore
way to go Rage, I’ know i’ll be looking back on this in the years to come as one of the greatest experiences ever for me
The RATM crowd was out of hand. The minuite Lupe Fiasco left the satge the surges to the front started. All of the morons that wanted the easy way to the front sat all day while the rest of us missed bands at other stages we wanted to see just to be in hell for two in a half hours. People were passing out being trampled over, girls were surfing out crying. One girl in particular had her toes and feet broken because she had lost her shoes in the riot up front. Others were being literaly crushed, you couldnt even lift your hands above your waste. At times i was moving and my feet werent even on the ground. You have to expect a little pushing, shoving, and being in tight spots but this was just out of hand. I was in the 3rd row almost dead center and if RATM hadnt have stopped that concert to tell people to stop back I strongly believe there couldve been fatalities.
Call it bad karma, but my boyfriend and I followed some die hard fans (you know the ones who act like they are looking for a friend and push through everyone) to about the fifth row. After realizing I was probably the smallest person in the crowd, I knew the situation was out of control. Quite literally as soon as the music started my feet didn’t touch the ground again…and it was dangerous. I wanted to see Rage, but my lame ass couldn’t handle risking my life. We pushed our way to the back and listened from afar (still an amazing show) but still not completely prepared to rage against any machines outside of the privacy of my home. However major props to Zack for getting 50,000 people to take 5 steps back with the minimal amount of purposeless angst possible.
The behavior of drunk fans and mob mentality, though dangerous and frightening, are not at the root of Saturday night’s unfortunate situation. I’ve attended each Lollapalooza since its rebirth, and this has been the first at which I’ve felt concern for my safety. Worry struck me Friday afternoon as I first walked on to Hutchinson Field (well before Rage’s Saturday night set); I saw that a key area for both watching the show and navigating one’s way out of it had been closed off.
In previous years of the festival, the western hillside leading down to Hutchinson Field has served as a key area for the crowd to gather. By each nightfall, hundreds of fans found seats along the slope to watch the headliners. Those in the crowd below could easily walk up the stairways or wend through the crowd to access both the bathrooms and exits.
This year, instead of hundreds of fans, expensive VIP cabanas populated this hillside. With such a broad area of seating suddenly unavailable, displaced fans had to find somewhere else to watch the show. More importantly, cutting off the hillside created an instant bottleneck at the one stairway in that quadrant of the field. This was the stairway at which fans requested to be let out of the park on Saturday night.
Many looking for a good view of the stage chose to clog those stairs. Bottlenecks started by mid-afternoon as crowds took up residence on what should have been a clear path for safety’s sake. I have clear recollections of security stopping such crowds from sitting on the stairs in the past, but this year, when it was most necessary, it seemed that no one intervened.
This article states that “Concertgoers were jammed on a stairway leading down to Hutchinson Field, and some wanted to leave the crowd.” This is precisely what should be under scrutiny. Why were fans jammed on this stairway? Why did this situation develop this year and never before? It’s easy, and rightful, to place blame on the shoulders of disorderly fans, but this situation at the stairs directly led to the gate opening and letting in the flood.
There are other factors that have led to my increased discontent with the festival’s organization (such as easily-accessible sources of water shrinking each year), but setting up VIP areas that both block exits and steal space from the crowd astonishes me. I’m now hesitant to attend an event that I usually consider a summer necessity.
I’d love to compare aerial photos of the field from each year if anyone knows where some are available.
I must comment in response to Dave:
“the mosh pits did get a little out of hand but I don’t know why small woman were putting themselves in there” The small women you are reffering to are there because they want to see the band, just as much as, if not more than, 225lb 6′-2″ arrogant jerk that pushes by everyone who had been there for hours waiting to see them, because they are big enough to do so. Did you ever think that maybe the 5′2″ 125 lb girl is just a big a fan (or even possibly a bigger fan) as you?
Well I don’t think what happened at this concert is any different than other bands similar to RATM. I have been to a few and I have now decided to stand back and or off to the sides for this very reason. I camped out on one of the sides hills all day so I had a good/safe view of RATM. I am all about feeling the music, but I didn’t see any problems during the Kanye West show when the whole audience was in unison with the arms and hands. No one got smashed then that I heard of.
At anything metal you will always have those people who think moshing is cool and don’t care if they impeding on other peoples space and or stage rushing and crushing people. No matter where you were it seemed as soon as they got on stage everyone took 5 steps forward. I know up on the hill where we had saved a spot all day we immediately stepped a few steps forward(and it didn’t improve our view any). It is just one of those things.
In the end I am sorry to hear about those that got hurt, but damn what an amazing show. By far the best show I have ever seen and it was only 10+ years in the making for me to finally see RATM.
The fact that some are suggesting that Zach was sending “mixed messages” is rediculous! He was doing his best to help people the only way that he could. I’ve seen Rage live a few times and seen countless taped performances and I have never seen a look of fear in his face like I did that night. I was next to the railing surrounding the sound stage. It’s a good spot. Fresh air (kinda), something to brace against, access to help if you need it, and a quick way out. I was totally comfortable there and had a decent view of the stage and monitors.