Rage at the RNC
Springboard was asked to come up and shoot an unannounced surprise show by our friends Rage Against the Machine on the lawn of the Minnesota State Capitol.
And it would have been a cool show in front of about 7500 young surprised fans. Except the second the band got out of their van to walk to the stage, the Minn. State Police confronted them and told them they would not be going on stage, not to try it, and if they did the power would be cut.
Then suddenly there were about 300+ Riot Police, in full Riot gear, circling the Lawn. And then they cut the power.
With the fans going nuts, and the Troopers not budging, the band were brilliant. Zack, Tom, Tim and Brad, walked around to the crowd in front of the stage, and led the audience in an unplugged Rage protest set through just a megaphone.
Yes, I did flash back to 1970 and the Kent State protests.
Yes, it was intense to be there a mile from the RNC with Rage and the Riot police.
And yes, I did wear my MC5 hat!
(If you dont remember the great MC5, its okay, you are just younger than me).
This was certainly the high-energy peak of a music-filled summer.
The artists, the music, all the Festival audiences have been inspiring.
But unplugged Rage, shouting out to the RNC, now THAT is rock n roll.
America, we are better than these last eight years.
We are a better country than this.
--Sen. Barak Obama 8.28.08
Posted on October 6, 2008
