Post by fredrum on Aug 27, 2007 11:59:30 GMT -5
quite possibly one of the greatest experiences of my life. as soon as i got out of the car in the parking lot, it started pouring, like it had been doing relentlessly for the entire week before the show. alpine valley, for those who have never been there (which is probably most of you, considering where i'm posting this), has a grass parking lot, which had just soaked with a record breaking weeks worth of rain. the inside of the concert venue is basically a giant grassy hill with an amphitheater with a seated section at the bottom. in the middle of the back of the seated part is the sound booth, which has a roof on it, thus blocking the view from that section of the hill, which then becomes sort of a no-man's land, this area usually rendered grassless due to moshing at events like ozzfest the week prior. this became a mudslide, albeit a mudslide with a two foot drop off into a trench at the bottom of it. after about an hour, the rain had let up, but the damage had been done. thousands of people from places as far away as colorado, ohio, and ontario, to name a few, who had waited for years to be where they were at this particular moment were now drenched with rain and seething with excitement. and the mud wars began. for three full hours prior to ratm finally taking the stage, sodden earth was relentlessly plummeting to the ground. through a mostly forgettable set by openers The Coup and a brilliant hour long set by josh homme and company, including the seldom heard "the fun machine took a shit and died", as well as several songs from sftd and a few from lullabies and era vulgaris as well, the mud kept flying. and then, after about an hour, the lights went down. the banner went up. and four people walked out on stage. brad wilk, tim kommorford, tom morello and.....a little old lady. "id like to introduce the greatest fucking band in the universe: rage against the machine!" and the music started. testify. seven years of tension was about to be released by thousands upon thousands of soggy, muddy people. I started out the show at the bottom of the hill to the left of the sound booth. by the second song of the set, bulls on parade, i had lost my footing and was slowly sliding downward, terminating in the trench at the bottom of the hill, which by now had four inch deep mud at the bottom of it. people of the sun. still in the trench, i wander over to the side and see a railing. pushing my way through, i manage to climb over it and find myself on some stairs, with an amazing view of the stage. bombtrack. vietnow. bullet in the head. take the power back. tire me. guerilla radio. calm like a bomb. sleep now in the fire. wake up. zack takes this opportunity to give his little speech, which i will not transcribe at this moment, but it sums up as this: fuck the republicans. fuck the democrats. the power lies with us. the entire world is watching us. and we have the power.. wake up. darkness. thunderous applause. then light.freedom-maybe it was the fact that i was sopping wet and covered in mud, but this gave me chills. i never thought that i would ever in my lifetime get a chance to see this and here it was in front of me. and it was great. what does the billboard say? come and play, come and play-forget about the movement-forget about yourselves-forget about your history-forget about your culture-and just buy-and just buy. freedom-to the bridge from township rebellion. killing in the name of.
Rage Against The Machine.
printed on the t-shirts was the spray painted silhouette of a man with a raised fist from the battle of los angeles-only it said "the battle of alpine valley". and for those of us involved, it was.
the trek back up the hill was difficult to say the least-no grass was left anywhere on the hill. concrete walkways were caked in mud-virtually impassible. the only way back up was grabbing the hand of some one else and helping. somehow it seemed fitting for the occasion. the hill looked like a bomb went off-fences were down, mud was everywhere. shoes and other assorted debris strewn about. the parking lot was a mess. one big mudhole. it took an hour and a half to get out. an hour later, i was home. exhausted, dirty. and feeling strangely fufilled.
Rage Against The Machine.
printed on the t-shirts was the spray painted silhouette of a man with a raised fist from the battle of los angeles-only it said "the battle of alpine valley". and for those of us involved, it was.
the trek back up the hill was difficult to say the least-no grass was left anywhere on the hill. concrete walkways were caked in mud-virtually impassible. the only way back up was grabbing the hand of some one else and helping. somehow it seemed fitting for the occasion. the hill looked like a bomb went off-fences were down, mud was everywhere. shoes and other assorted debris strewn about. the parking lot was a mess. one big mudhole. it took an hour and a half to get out. an hour later, i was home. exhausted, dirty. and feeling strangely fufilled.
