The concert Tom Morello hated performing: “What have we done?”
The 1990s was a particularly weird time for rock and roll music, but nu-metal was perhaps the strangest scene to arrive within the decade. Characterised by a blending of heavy metal and hip-hop, nu-metal was built on the foundations of rebellion, unity and a defiant punk spirit. As the scene developed, however, it began to become increasingly diluted, leading to many of the genre’s progenitors, like Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, having mixed feelings about nu-metal.
As the guitarist driving the furious, politically charged sounds of Rage Against the Machine, Morello was a founding father of the nu-metal movement. The band were among the first to fully combine the previously disparate sounds of hip-hop and metal, earning the group legions of dedicated fans in the process, who were excited at the prospect of a rebellion against the increasingly corporate leanings of mainstream rock as a result of entities like MTV.
As you might expect, therefore, Rage Against the Machine soon became known for their endlessly energetic and chaotic live shows. Playing tracks like ‘Killing In The Name’ or ‘Bullet In the Head’ within a live setting proved to be an effective method of riling up a crowd and sparking some of the most aggressive and all-encompassing mosh pits the 1990s had ever seen. Moshing had been around since the earliest days of punk, but had become particularly prevalent in the wake of grunge and the formation of nu-metal, but it would soon provide the downfall of the scene.
The defining moment for nu-metal came in 1999, with the infamous New York festival Woodstock ‘99. What was originally advertised as a rebirth of the original 1969 festival of peace, love and music descended into chaos over the course of the weekend. Stages were destroyed, vendors were looted, trucks were blown up, and, most tragically, there were multiple cases of rape, sexual assault and even death over the course of the festival. Now, it is clear that the Woodstock ‘99 riot came as a result of myriad factors, including a lack of safeguarding and care from the festival’s organisers. At the time, though, the finger of blame pointed solely at nu-metal.
At the original Woodstock, the music played often espoused the joys of peace, collective power and joy, but the nu-metal scene of Woodstock ‘99 was considerably more abrasive. Sets by bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit and, of course, Rage Against the Machine helped to rile up the already frustrated crowds, who eventually descended into rioting. The majority of blame seemed to fall on Limp Bizkit, whose set was storied by fans tearing up plywood and attacking the sound stage during the track ‘Break Stuff’, but Rage certainly had a part to play, too.
Speaking to the docuseries Metal Evolution, Morello spoke of his regret over Woodstock ‘99, saying, “This music kind of started with the idea of making powerful music that had a message, that was about integrity and unity and this, kind of, solidarity between band and crowd. And it became a bunch of thugs raping women in the pit and then burning the festival to the ground,” adding, “We popularised the genre that now has just totally run amok, I just thought ‘man, what have we done?’”.
Rage Against the Machine would split up only a year after the disasters of Woodstock ‘99. The festival provided only one in a growing number of instances in which listeners grossly misunderstood the messages of the band, leading to widespread chaos and destruction to the detriment of those fans themselves. Limp Bizkit might have stoked the flames of the riot, but when the hoards began looting, they were singing Rage Against the Machine’s “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me”.
