Coming directly after an anti-ICE benefit performance in Minneapolis — which also saw him take part in on-the-ground street demonstrations — Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello has revealed plans for a spring headlining tour. The upcoming stretch of full electric band performances will kick off with an appearance at the ‘Welcome To Rockville’ festival in Daytona Beach, Florida, before carrying on through May.
Morello wrote via Instagram post: “Well, democracy ain’t gonna save itself! SPRING TOUR IN THE USA THIS MAY! Pre-sale starts Wednesday February 4th at 10AM local time. Sign up for my newsletter at the link in bio to gain pre-sale access. General sale starts Friday February 6th at 10AM local time. Can’t wait to see you there!”
Tour dates are as follows:
- May 8 — Daytona Beach, FL (Welcome To Rockville)
- May 9 — Fort Lauderdale, FL (Revolution Live)
- May 10 — Tampa, FL (The Ritz Ybor)
- May 12 — Atlanta, GA (The Eastern)
- May 13 — Nashville, TN (Cannery Hall – The Mainstage)
- May 15 — Milwaukee, WI (The Rave / Eagles Club)
- May 16 — Columbus, OH (Sonic Temple Festival)
- May 24 — Napa, CA (BottleRock)
Presale access is available through registration for Morello’s newsletter, while general ticket sales are scheduled to begin this Friday, February 6th, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
On Friday night last week, Tom Morello and Bruce Springsteen joined forces with punk stalwarts Rise Against for “A Concert Of Solidarity & Resistance To Defend Minnesota.”
Organized as a direct protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the immigration policies of President Donald Trump, the event featured advertised sets from Morello, Rise Against, Al Di Meola, and Ike Reilly. However, the night’s biggest moment came with the unannounced arrival of Springsteen, who took the stage to debut his new protest track, “Streets Of Minneapolis,” live for the first time.
Morello, famously the guitarist for Rage Against The Machine, set the tone for the evening immediately upon taking the stage. Before launching into a cover of his band’s seminal anthem “Killing In The Name,” Morello delivered a fiery address to the capacity crowd, characterizing Minneapolis as a critical battleground in the fight against authoritarianism.
He said: “Brothers and sisters, thank you for welcoming us to the battle of Minneapolis. My friends, if it looks like fas*ism, sounds like fas*ism, acts like fas*ism, dresses like fas*ism, talks like fas*ism, kills like fas*ism and lies like fas*ism, brothers and sisters, it’s f**king fas*ism. It’s here, it’s now, it’s in my city, it’s in your city and it must be resisted, protested, defended against, stood up to, exposed, ousted, overthrown and driven out. By who? By you. By me.”
“Minneapolis is an inspiration to the entire nation. You have heroically stood up against ICE, stood up against Trump, stood up against this terrible rising tide of state te**or. You’ve stood up for your neighbors and for yourselves and for democracy and for justice. Ain’t nobody coming to save us, except us. And brothers and sisters, you are showing the way.”
“To that end, we would like to begin our program with an old Native American war chant. We encourage you to singalong, in this very room Prince created a revolution, now it’s our turn.”
Morello‘s performance was a tour de force of his most politically charged material. His setlist included solo tracks like “Soldier In The Army Of Love” and “One Man Revolution,” alongside a medley of Rage Against The Machine staples (“Bombtrack,” “Bulls On Parade,” “Guerrilla Radio“) and Audioslave hits (“Cochise,” “Like A Stone“). He also led a rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” accompanied by Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, Reilly, and Di Meola.
The evening’s most emotional moment came when Morello and Springsteen shared the stage once again for “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” the Springsteen song that Rage Against The Machine famously reinterpreted in the 1990s. To close out the night, every performer involved returned for a full-group rendition of John Lennon’s “Power To The People.”
