Rage Against the Machine Plays to a Packed Crowd at RBC Bluesfest

On the first night of a coming heatwave, Rage Against the Machine played to an enthusiastic shoulder-to-shoulder crowd. Earlier Ludic, The Commotions and Okies played charming shows across the festival, as Run the Jewels opened for Rage on the main stage with their typical bombast and charm.

Starting the night at the SiriusXM stage, The Commotions looked like a good time from the moment they started playing. A five-piece brass section? Three singers, a bassist playing a 6-string bass, and a keyboard player playing an expensive-looking piano? Sign me up!

Sure enough, the band that gave every indication that they were about to play some funky music did just that. The band played a good variety of in-the-pocket, danceable tunes, with all three vocalists demonstrating impressive vocal range. One of the singers, Mackenzie Di Millo (seen on the right, below), also played a surprisingly strong set of classically-stylish tunes as part of Mack & Ben earlier this week.

Over at the River stage, Okies brought the gentler sound of indie rock to a crowd relaxing on the hillside. The group played a number of guitar-centred tunes with mournful vocals, usually featuring the echoey vocal effect famous to the genre. Guitarist and singer Marc-Antoine Moisan’s voice usually had a mournful quality, one that resonated more strongly when backed by fellow guitarist and vocalist Phil Goodman, the latter being the only member of the band that didn’t resemble Ned Flanders. (Okalies Dokalies?) The band from Aylmer made a welcome tribute to the famous, now sadly burned-down Ottawa café, “The Daily Grind”, with a song of the same name. Moisan played the piece solo on his acoustic guitar while the rest of the band danced on the side of the stage and amusingly hyped him up. The band’s closing track featured an impressively rising, jammy guitar riff and powerful vocals, demonstrating some stylistic range. The band’s at its best when they are at their most forceful.

After Okies came Ludic, a funky three-piece outfit from Vancouver. The group played a variety of tight tunes with a ’70s feel, and a smaller band dynamic than The Commotions. The delay on the guitar and vocal effects lent some of their songs a psychadelic vibe. Overall the tunes were punchy, especially the closing track, featuring a lead-in based on their take of Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish”. With the bassist hitting the original’s keyboard hook and the guitar playing the horn parts, the track was so groovy it felt illegal.

Rap group Run the Jewels got things started on the main stage Friday. After a jokey “We Are the World” interlude, the group opened with “Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)” as the first full song of the night. It showcased several of the group’s signature traits: catchy, booming bass that makes you want to move; intricately overlapping rap verses; and boasts of violence reminiscent of 90’s hip hop, with political themes. “We killin’ ’em for freedom ’cause they tortured us for boredom / And even if some good ones die, fuck it, the Lord’ll sort ’em”, raps Killer Mike, with his famously booming voice. (Unfortunately, the track was performed without the support of Zack de la Rocha, despite his presence at the event, perhaps due to his recent injuries. More on that in a moment.) Throughout the set, Mike and El-P would join each others’ bars to double up on key words and phrases, and finish the other’s bar mid-phrase, in an impressive display of practice and technical skill.

I first saw the group when they came to Bluesfest in 2015, and thankfully, the group (now on the main stage) has kept the sense of enthusiasm and infectious fun that made them so appealing then. The group, which couldn’t have seemed happier to be there and through the worst of the pandemic, were notably good stewards of the crowd. They told the audience to look out for people who might not want to be there when they started moshing, including some children near the front of the stage, and singled out passionate fans. In a heartwarming moment, a fellow in a wheelchair, who was seen crowdsurfing in his chair atop a strong-looking crowd, was invited onstage for the remainder of the set. Limp Bizkit at Woodstock, this was not.

The group has the beats for people who want to headbang, lyrical prowess for those who care to listen, and of course for dedicated fans, they have both.

As the sun set, the packed crowd stretching hundreds of feet back stood and cheered for Rage Against the Machine. (I hadn’t been in a crowd that large in years. Like driving through heavier Ottawa traffic recently, the experience was both uncomfortable and a pleasant sign that things were returning to something like normal.) With his leg in what appeared to be a cast, Zack de la Rocha was carried onstage by staff, and sat for the duration of the show. He leaning towards the crowd and gestured, almost like a storyteller around a campfire, as he shouted the lines from “Bombtrack”. Performing songs from their hit ’90s albums, and one cover from their 2000 covers album, the band’s music still hit with the intensity of a brick to the face.

Tom Morello demonstrated his legendary guitar prowess throughout. With a flick of a switch, as for the solo on “Bulls on Parade”, his guitar could sound like a siren, which when accompanied by a guitar slide, almost sounded like a DJ scratching a record. It was a privilege to see some of his skills live and to expand my mind about what guitars can do. Morello occasionally did things on guitar that you’re instructed not to do, such as playing the strings above the nut on a guitar, or playing with the tone and volume knobs mid-song, for remarkable effect.

The crowd stood and shouted along with some line lines from nearly every song, even the album tracks–but strikingly, the lines were not always the ones in the chorus. “It has to start somewhere, it has to start sometime,” whispered Rocha to the crowd during the bridge of “Guerrilla Radio”, who shouted it back at him. “What better place than here, what better time than now?” At moments like these, when the crowd was clearly sharing his moment, Rocha occasionally broke character with a grin. Their music can feel pretty consistently loud, but little moments like that are memorable because they create the kind of contrast that the band’s vicious delivery needs.

There were several minute-long pauses between songs, as Morello switched guitars and the band set up. Videos played evocative references to modern politics at these times, as well as occasionally during performances: an El Paso police vehicle on fire, or a US border guard staring intimidatingly into the camera. The band continues to make political statements today, and it made me curious how they’d express these themes in new music. Some fresh bars from the band on the topics they evoked could be interesting.

The festival continues tonight, starring acts like TLC, Ja Rule and TJ Wheeler. Visit www.ottawabluesfest.ca to find out more.

Written by Aaron Nava

MORE PHOTOS