Run the Jewels emcee El-P set a high bar for the headliner at PPG Paints Arena Friday night, calling Rage Against the Machine, “The greatest living rock band in the world.”
That’s a mighty big claim, but, as Rage proved when the group took the stage for the first time ever in Pittsburgh proper with “Bombtrack,” there aren’t many as loud and thrilling.
Rage had been in Western Pa. twice before, first to play Lollapalooza in 1993 at Star Lake and then with Wu-Tang Clan in ‘97 in the show where you could barely hear Zack de la Rocha.
This time the long-lost Rage singer came through loud and clear from his seat on the stage. Yes, seat. He had to sit down — like Phil Collins but not at all like Phil Collins — because of a leg injury suffered on the second show of the long-awaited Public Service Announcement Tour, but he was still a force, violently swinging his arms, kicking his one leg and delivering every word with no less fire than he had three decades ago. Something about that voice just screams emergency!
From the tight, explosive trio of guitar god Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk, we got a funk-metal storm that shook the building and felt like a punch in the chest.
There was no need for a fifth instrument, of course. Morello, one of the heaviest and most creative guitarists of his or any generation, not only summoned the Zep-style thunder, but gave us synth sounds, turntable scratches, machine-gun blasts, feedback and just about everything else he could muster from the guitar, which he also played with his teeth.
On the floor, it was throwback grunge-metal mayhem from the bro-heavy crowd of dudes in their 30s and 40s. (When there’s a long line for the men’s room and the women are breezing in and out, it’s a bro show.) On the fourth song, “Bullet in the Head,” de la Rocha stopped everything when someone up front seemed to be hurt.
“Take care of each other,” he said “and not just in this room.”
This was a night to release a lot of pent-up energy, pandemic or otherwise, by raging right back at RATM while they pounded through bangers like “Bulls on Parade,” “Guerilla Radio” and “Calm Like a Bomb” with as much power and fury as I’ve ever seen in a band. And I’ve seen many.
It was overwhelming. Gloriously so, with very little letup.
Rage came out with the words “FEAR IS YOUR ONLY GOD” plastered across the screen and during the show turned some of their wrath toward the law, showing a burning police car and a clip of a cop with a German shepherd and robot dog, among other things.
“Do you know that the powerful are terrified of you?!” de la Rocha declared on “Vietnow.”
On Springsteen’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” de la Rocha sang of the homeless “sleeping in the city aqueduct” and added “in the wealthiest country in the world!”
Rage didn’t deliver a constant barrage of political messages — “a civics lesson,” as an usher joked to me — as Roger Waters just did in this building. They saved most of it for “Freedom,” on which the screen flashed messages about “forced birth” in a country without universal health care, with gun violence and high black mortality, concluding it with “ABORT THE SUPREME COURT.” Not the boldest political statement to make in 2022 — it’s practically been a consensus on social media — but it hyped the crowd. (Give us new songs with lots more ideas, please!)
They signed off with blinding intensity on “Killing in the Name,” accompanied by a photo and caption regarding Jim Rogers (misspelled as “Rodgers”), an unarmed Pittsburgh homeless man who died after police used a stunning device on him in October during a call about a bike theft. Five officers were terminated after the incident.
In a lighter moment, the biggest smile of the night from de la Rocha came when he announced that a special person was in the building. It was ... not Bruce Springsteen to do “The Ghost of Tom Joad” with the group. It wasn’t Joe Grushecky either, or the guys from Anti-Flag. They’re in Europe.
It was Franco Harris.
“We’re blessed by your presence, bro!” de la Rocha said.
We didn’t see Franco. Maybe he was wilding out down in the mosh pit. Who would blame him?
Run the Jewels, who would jump on stage with Rage to do “Close Your Eyes (And Count to F—-),” stepped out for their own set singing along to “We Are the World,” before interrupting it with an anthem of their own, “Run the Jewels.”
“My name is Jaime. This is Michael,” El-P said, introducing himself and his partner, Killer Mike. “We’ve been waiting 2.5 years-plus to play Pittsburgh tonight,” he said, praising the crowd for holding on to their tickets.
For 45 minutes, Run the Jewels gave the crowd the kind of old-school bangin’ hip-hop a la Public Enemy that Rage drew from back in the day.
When the crowd started chanting “R-T-J,” El-P said “Don’t make me cry. We’re just the opener.”
RTJ blend well, finishing each other’s sentences, with El-P going high and Killer Mike being the booming bass over the electrifying beats and scratches.
In the flurry of words flying, the line that jumped out the most was on “JU$T,” when they hollered, “Look at all these slave masters/Posin' on yo' dollar.”
Introducing “walking in the snow,” Killer Mike delivered another clear message, saying, “As the son of a cop, one thing my father taught me was, ‘The state should fear the people, not the other way around.’ ”
On Friday night, it was a wild mob, but one more exhilarated than angry — to be seeing a show they waited not just 2.5 years to see but a full 25.
Scott Mervis: smervis@post-gazette.com.
Rage Against the Machine Setlist
Bombtrack
People of the Sun
Bulls on Parade
Bullet in the Head
Testify
Take the Power Back
Close Your Eyes (And Count to F—-)
Guerrilla Radio
Vietnow
Know Your Enemy
Calm Like a Bomb
Sleep Now in the Fire
Born of a Broken Man
War Within a Breath
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Freedom
Township Rebellion
Killing in the Name
RTJ Setlist
Run the Jewels
yankee and the brave (ep. 4)
Blockbuster Night Part 1
Oh My Darling Don't Cry
Legend Has It
JU$T
Stay Gold
Don't Get Captured
walking in the snow
a few words for the firing squad (radiation)
First Published: July 30, 2022, 3:59 a.m.
