Rage Against the Machine fans waited more than a decade for their favorite musical molotov cocktail to hit the road again. And after kicking off their reunion tour on Saturday in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin, there was no way incendiary shouter/rapper Zack de la Rocha was going to let a little foot sprain deter him from serving up the fiery goods to a packed house at Chicago’s United Center during Monday night’s (July 11) second show of the Public Service Announcement Tour.
Unfortunately, early in the set of Monday’s show, de la Rocha appeared to injure his foot after jumping around during “Bullet in the Head” and he had to resort to sitting on a stage monitor to rest. A short time later during “Testify” he explained to the hyped crowd that there was absolutely nothing that would deter him from rocking the place to ashes that night.
“I don’t know what happened to my leg right now, but you know what? We’re gonna keep this f–kin’ s–t goin,’” he told the audience as images of an in-flames police van burned on the screen behind him. “If I have to crawl across this stage. We’re gonna play for y’all tonight. We came too f–kin’ far.”
According to a report from Consequence of Sound, the injury came 4 songs into the set, after which de la Rocha was reportedly helped off the stage by several crew members and then brought back out a short time later with the frontman taking a seat on the monitor to complete the gig. CoS added that the rapper tried to stand up several times during the remainder of the set but was unable to put any weight on his injured leg.
De la Rocha appeared unswayed, hollering out the band’s fuse-lighting songs from his side stage perch, his left foot slightly elevated as guitarist Tom Morello ripped off otherworldly solos and the show went on mostly as planned. At press time a spokesperson for the group had not returned requests for additional comment on de la Rocha’s condition or whether the injury will impact Tuesday night’s (July 12) planned second show at the United Center.
The band’s tour launch on Saturday at Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin — their first show in 11 years — featured their patented blend of provocation and propulsion as they tore through a hit-packed set of fan favorites including “Bombtrack,” “People of the Sun,” “Bulls on Parade” accompanied by red meat messages and images on a screen behind them including an El Paso police car on fire, a helicopter zooming in on a group of refugees in a boat and the phrase “Abort the Supreme Court” just weeks after the conservative-leaning justices struck down the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision.
Watch video from the show below.
After sustaining the injury, Zack de la Rocha was helped off stage by the band's crew members. Following a brief break, the concert resumed with de la Rocha performing while seated on a monitor. pic.twitter.com/ZXYUtwObvX
— Consequence (@consequence) July 12, 2022
