Rage Against the Quad
August 10, 2012 6:12 AM   Subscribe

Full concert footage of Rage Against the Machine's first ever public performance at The Quad, Cal State Northridge, Northridge, CA on Oct. 23, 1991.
posted by swift (24 comments total) 27 users marked this as a favorite
 
Oh my god Zach de la Rocha is twenty one in that.
posted by griphus at 6:17 AM on August 10, 2012


I didn't have time to watch the whole thing but I skimmed through it and loved how the crowd starts to get larger and larger and the performance goes on.
posted by windbox at 6:31 AM on August 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


I've gotten thirty minutes in, and I wanted to come back and comment that the most mind blowing part is when those two girls start politely swaying at the beginning, almost to encourage the young, local band.

I want to tap her on the shoulder ad say, "lady, not too many years from now, there will be riots at their concerts."

Just think about that.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 6:34 AM on August 10, 2012 [2 favorites]


A friend of mine told me the story of a concert that his mother went to when she was young. She went to see the Monkees at the height of their fame. Returning home, her friends asked her about the concert. She said the Monkees were good, but there was this black guitar player who opened who completely stole the show.
posted by deathpanels at 6:36 AM on August 10, 2012 [4 favorites]


Always thought it funny that one of the 90's most overtly political bands became the soundtrack to many a bro-fest/date-rape.

No accounting for taste I guess.
posted by bardic at 6:39 AM on August 10, 2012


Oh my god Zach de la Rocha is twenty one in that.

At several points you can see him slowly easing in. It's obvious he knows how to be a front man, but he's still at the level where he's aware of the audience (the reservation during Bullet in the Head may just be lack of stage, though).

Development of Front Man level:
First - Awareness of audience
Second - overcome fear of audience
Third - total disregard of audience
Fourth - Commands audience
Last - State Fair audience and coping with loss of relevance
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 6:41 AM on August 10, 2012 [11 favorites]


Hey had been a lead singer before.
posted by empath at 6:43 AM on August 10, 2012


She said the Monkees were good, but there was this black guitar player who opened who completely stole the show.

Yup. Dig the Monkees (and company) checking Jimi out in a hotel room

And then, July 17, 1967: Jimi Hendrix drops out as opening act for The Monkees
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:45 AM on August 10, 2012 [2 favorites]


It's obvious he knows how to be a front man

He had some experience before RATM.
posted by swift at 6:47 AM on August 10, 2012 [2 favorites]


Wow, imagine walking past that. In 1991 that would have stopped me in my tracks.
posted by zzazazz at 6:51 AM on August 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me unless you're Sony Music Entertainment in which case I will do exactly what you tell me.
posted by Jeff Mangum's Penny-farthing at 6:55 AM on August 10, 2012 [10 favorites]


Amazing interview with Tom Morello by Bill Moyers on Occupy Wallstreet and how he's turning to folk based protest songs.
posted by 445supermag at 7:07 AM on August 10, 2012


This. Is. Awesome.

I respected Rage in the 90s. I was way more into alt rock and grunge, but I appreciated their lyrics. While high school wasn't great, I didn't feel the need to listen to a lot of angry music. Tori Amos and Elvis Costello were about the right speed.

Then about ten years later, I became a public high school teacher and suddenly understood the awesome power of smart, loud, angry rock and Rage (along w some political hip hop) went into heavy rotation.
posted by smirkette at 7:15 AM on August 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


Excellent find. RATM was one hell of an act, and lyrically could not have been better named.
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:34 AM on August 10, 2012


Given what's happened in the 20 years since Zach told us to "Take The Power Back", he may have been making things worse.
posted by Egg Shen at 7:48 AM on August 10, 2012


Wow, it's crazy to hear how much of Killing in the Name is already set in the exact same way it would eventually be recorded. The intro bit is doubled, no lyrics, and the second half of the song is missing, but it's pretty much note for note the same otherwise.
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:56 AM on August 10, 2012


The band sounds GOOD. Seconding zzazazz. But my favorite part of this is the crowd. It's a mix of late 80s and ur-90s fashion. Those two guys in the front at 7:45 hold court as standard bearers of stoners to come. I wonder if Citizen Dick was playing next?
posted by hanoixan at 8:07 AM on August 10, 2012


Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me unless you're Sony Music Entertainment in which case I will do exactly what you tell me.

We play for Sony
But we're not phony
We're millionaires and we don't get the high i-rony

Some jackass in a Che Guevara t-shirt...
Some jackass in a Che Guevara t-shirt...
SOME JACKASS IN A CHE GUEVARA T-SHIRT...
SOME JACKASS IN A CHE GUEVARA T-SHIRT
BLEEEAAAAAHHHHHRRRRGGGHHH!!!

Screech-a screech-a screechity-scrit-scrit screeaaacch!


Previously.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:25 AM on August 10, 2012


I'll always prefer Zack in Inside Out. RATM was interesting for a few minutes then... eh.
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:13 AM on August 10, 2012


What, no HD?
posted by 13twelve at 9:55 AM on August 10, 2012


Thanks for this. I'd love to see a tumblr or wiki of earliest known photo and footage of bands.
posted by jetsetsc at 11:30 AM on August 10, 2012


Never heard these guys before they blew my mind at Lollapalooza in '93. They did it again today in 1991.
posted by etc. at 12:08 PM on August 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


It's tough to describe how different the musical landscape was before they came around. The only other band that I knew of combining hard rock with rap was Anthrax, and even that was a one off.

After Rage, it was a genre.

For my money, any band that releases an album with an accompanying booklist secured my loyalty and then some.
posted by Hickeystudio at 3:10 PM on August 10, 2012


Tom Morello and I were in the same dorm in college, and we were both insomniacs so sometimes I would run into him playing some song he was writing, usually called something like "Salvadorean Death Squad Blues." He was in a band called Robespierre in those days.

He is a pretty amazing guy in lots of ways. And he can shred like nobody's business!
posted by Sidhedevil at 8:38 PM on August 10, 2012


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