Sleep Now In The Fire: Farewell to Rage Against the Machine’s live show
Well, it’s over. Again.
Last week, Brad Wilk, drummer for iconic rap-rock firestarters Rage Against the Machine confirmed that the band would not be rescheduling the shows they’d cancelled in the United States, and that they simply wouldn’t be performing again.
“I want to let you know that RATM (Tim, Zack, Tom and I) will not be touring or playing live again,” he says on Instagram, with a palpable ache even through text alone. “I’m sorry for those of you who have been waiting for [rescheduled shows] to happen. I really wish it was…”
We’re no strangers to Rage Against The Machine breakups, with frontman Zack de la Rocha leaving the band in 2000 and a 2008 reunion fizzling out after a headline set at Coachella, but this time, there’s a sadness attached to the statement. The band is a whirlwind of fury, making its greatest statements on the world stage in protest, and to be closed down by text on an Instagram post feels like a match being dropped into a puddle. But if we’re to say goodbye, we’ll do it with gratitude.
