ECHO PARK—On Monday night, the heart of Los Angeles beat a little louder as guitarist Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, hosted a powerful show at the Echoplex.
The show, titled “Defend L.A.,” launched on Friday, June 13, in response to ICE raids across the city. All proceeds were donated to The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), an organization at the forefront of defending the rights of our immigrant community and fighting for dignity and justice for migrants in the city.
The show brought together various bands, kicking off with a fiery set by the dynamic, revolutionary hip-hop duo The Neighborhood Kids from San Diego, followed by anti-Putin, anti-repression activist collective Pussy Riot, and rapper/musician K. Flay.
A member of Pussy Riot strode to the front of the stage, announcing in her accented English, "I am from a country ... that is called Russia and trust me, it sucks dick" to hoots from the crowd
Throughout the night, between each set, artist Shepard Fairey entertained the crowd by deejaying. The crowd, who arrived with a lot of energy and enthusiasm to support the benefit show, at times took center stage as chants of “ICE out of L.A.” and “Chinga la Migra” took over the show.
One of the evening's highlights was a performance by South Gate son B-Real, showcasing several of Cypress Hill’s big hits like “Insane in the Brain,” “Dr. Greenthumb,” and “How I Could Just Kill a Man,” among others.
B-Real also took a moment to thank Tom Morello for inviting him and addressed the crowd about the repression the city is facing from the federal government, saying, “They fucked with the wrong city.”
During the performances, Los Angeles-raised comic George Lopez entertained the crowd with his anti-Trump jokes, which provided a little comic relief for those trying to process the latest news about ICE agents kidnapping our people.
Referencing his huge mane of curly, gray, long hair, Lopez said, "My fucking neighbors racially profiled me. They said that some old Mexican lady was trying to get in my house. They saw me from behind."
Introducing Pussy Riot before they launched into "Police State," Lopez encouraged the crowd to "keep showing up and fucking don't trust anybody."
When Tom Morello took the stage, the crowd erupted in cheers for the sixty-one-year-old guitarist from Libertyville, Illinois. He proved he could still rock the stage, providing fans—especially those who were not around in the 1990s—a nostalgic flashback to the early Rage Against the Machine shows in L.A.
Morello’s performance encapsulated the radical energy of the city right now, performing riffs from some of Rage’s biggest songs like "Sleep Now In The Fire,” “Take The Power Back," and "Killing In The Name Of,” on which B-Real handled the vocals, pointing the mic at the crowd to let them shout its classic refrains of resistance.
Morello paid tribute to the late-Chris Cornell, saying, “Chris was always down to play benefit shows with me,”before he performed “Like a Stone” and “Cochise.”
A show highlight occurred when Morello unveiled his primary acoustic guitar, dubbed the “Black Spartacus.” This black six-string Gibson was used during the Occupy Wall Street movement in early 2011, where Morello performed to support the social movement that originated in lower Manhattan.
The foment of those protests reverberate in the current protests against ICE raids happening nationwide. Morello used the Gibson d to perform Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.”
“Like you might be beginning to suspect, that this land is your land,” said Morello, making connections to Guthrie’s lyrics from 1945 to today’s progressive politics.
For Guthrie’s cover song, Morello brought out all the performers: Pussy, Riot, The Neighborhood Kids, K. Flay, and B-Real to end the night with a bang.
This is not solely a concert; it is a call to action, Morello told the house, encouraging those gathered to continue to defend L.A. and refuse to back down in the face of state repression.
