Rage Against The Machine made their long-awaited live comeback at the weekend, making a stance on the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States.
The band performed their first show in 11 years on Friday night (July 9), treating fans in East Troy, Wisconsin to 15 of their biggest hits and a classic Bruce Springsteen cover.
Since the Roe v. Wade ruling, the 1973 case that made abortion legal on a federal level, was overturned on June 24, Wisconsin is one of the states to have banned abortion.
During their gig in East Troy, Rage Against The Machine shared a video on the big screens, saying: “Forced birth in a country that is the only wealthy country in the world without any guaranteed paid parental leave at the national level/
“Forced birth in a country where Black birth-givers experience maternal mortality two to three times higher than that of white birth-givers,” the messages continued, as confirmed by videos from the show.
It added: Forced birth in a country where gun violence is the number one cause of death among children and teenagers,” before ending with the statement: “Abort the Supreme Court.”
Last month, the band pledged to donate $475,000 (£387,000) to reproductive rights organisations in Wisconsin and Illinois. The sum was raised through ticket sales to their shows in the two US states, including the Wisconsin gig. Earlier this year, the band shared a statement supporting abortion rights in the US.
See footage of the statement below.
“Abort the Supreme Court,” @RATM proclaim via video message @AVMTheatre Saturday for their reunion tour kickoff. Review and set list @journalsentinel https://t.co/3xD7McEriO pic.twitter.com/1PLXbq2dFY
— Piet Levy (@pietlevy) July 10, 2022
The band, who first announced their second reunion back in 2019, were set to kick the tour off in March 2020. Ongoing complications surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, however, forced the tour to be rescheduled several times over; the most recent pushbacks came in January and February, where half of the US leg was postponed from April to July, and the other half was pushed into 2023.
Among the band’s UK appearances will be headline slots at this year’s Reading & Leeds, as well as a massive outdoor show in Edinburgh. Find tickets for the band’s UK dates here, and North American ones here.