Rage Against The Machine announce 2020 tour with Run The Jewels

After tons of conjecture, it finally leaked: Rage Against The Machine (arguably the country’s most political alternative rock band) are finally reuniting. The band–frontman Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk–are heading out on tour with hip-hop radicals Run The Jewels for an intended seven-month campaign of dates, starting March 26th in El Paso, Texas, and ending September 12 in Vienna, Austria. 

This is the first time the iconic Los Angeles band have toured together since 2011. Further maintaining their political stance, RATM are working with multiple charities and activist organizations throughout the tour. All of the proceeds from the shows in El Paso, Texas, Las Cruces, New Mexico and Phoenix, Arizona, will go to immigrant rights initiatives.

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The announcement was made shortly after a Pittsburgh radio station’s since deleted teaser sparked theories of an upcoming gig. The speculation stretches back even further after the band posted a list of dates in November. With Coachella confirmed in January, RATM are now announcing the rest of the run, which includes previously revealed Firefly Festival and Boston Calling.

Rage Against The Machine were truly the firebrand outfit of Los Angeles during America’s early-’90s alt-rock scene. They created an impeccable DNA containing the driving funk rhythms of bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk; guitarist Tom Morello’s ingenious avant-metal-groove instincts; and the charismatic, commanding hardcore vocals of Zack de la Rocha. 

Sonically bracing and unapologetically political (consider the “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me” refrain in “Killing In The Name”), their attitude and awareness of the world wasn’t always left onstage. 

Rage walked the walk, always courting controversy with acts that included teaming up with film director Michael Moore in 2000 to roll up on the New York Stock Exchange; walking onstage naked at Lollapalooza in 1993 with duct tape over their mouths to protest censorship; getting their second song cut during their stint on Saturday Night Live when they draped upside-down American flags over their amps; and seeking justice for controversial figures as Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu-Jamal.

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Since the band’s hiatus, the members have pursued other projects with Morello, Wilk and Commerford performing in Prophets Of Rage sans de la Rocha, who released an EP under the project name One Day As A Lion on Anti-Epitaph in 2008. Given the divisiveness of the current American political system, RATM reconvening couldn’t come at a better time for generations of music fans to address that eternal question: Whose side are you on?

Tickets go on sale Thursday, Feb. 13 at 11 a.m. local time here. Check out a full list of dates below with newly revealed stops in bold.

 

Dates:

03/26 – El Paso, TX @ Utep Don Haskins Center
03/28 – Las Cruces, NM @ Pan American Center
03/30 – Glendale, AZ @ Gila River Arena
04/10 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival
04/17 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival
04/21 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
04/25 – Portland, OR @ ODA Center
04/28 – Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
05/01 – Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum
05/03 – Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place
05/05 – Calgary, AL @ Scotiabank Saddledome
05/07 – Winnipeg, MB @ Bell MTS Place
05/09 — Sioux Falls, SD @ Denny Sanford Premier Center
05/11 — Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
05/14 — Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
05/16 — St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center
05/19 — Chicago, IL @ United Center*
05/23 – Boston, MA @ Boston Calling
06/19 – Dover, DE @ Firefly Festival
07/10 — East Troy, WI @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre
07/13 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
07/17 — Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Bluesfest
07/18 — Festival d’Été de Québec @ Festival d’Été de Québec*
07/21 – Hamilton, ON @ First Ontario Centre*
07/23 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
07/27 — Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center

07/29 — Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
07/31 — Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
08/02 — Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena
08/04 – Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
08/07 — Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion

08/10 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
08/11 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
08/28 — Leeds, UK @ Leeds Festival
08/30 — Reading, UK @ Reading Festival
09/01 — Paris, FR @ Rock En Seine Festival
09/04 — Stradbally Laois, IE @ Electric Picnic Festival
09/06 — Berlin, DE @ Lollapalooza Berlin Festival
09/08 — Prague, CZ @ O2 Arena
09/10 — Krakow, PL @ Tauron Arena

*no Run The Jewels

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