Rage Against the Police Machine

The best political writing that comes out of either of the mainstream papers in our Twin Cities (the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press) has been by the music critics. The Rage Against the Machine review by Jon Bream is one of them.

The show was awesome. I'm a huuuuge Rage fan and frankly, I needed this. I got news today or yesterday that two of my friends in the blockade crew, the pagan cluster, are arrested. The guy was taken down, tasered while not resisting, and is in jail. I've seen the video of it on Kare11. I haven't even called the people I know yet, so I needed to limber up my strength to push for what they need. Do I respect wishes for jail solidarity, and ask for all of them to be released? Or do I target them?

A good friend of mine is one of the dispatchers for the legal observers so she's near tears for all the cute protest kids getting messed with. The police are really being a testy gang; those ninja turtle suits make them mean. The corporate media is fetishizing the violence against property (because there's no good direct evidence of any violence against person) and the police are making shit up. And I might be wrong on some of this - information is hard to grab and process, things are very multifasceted. It's a cluster [expletive].

Some work some coverage for tomorrow. And the Rage show rocked. (I've got some tinny video from my cellphone...)

So special to Indymedia, sorry about reposting the Strib, but like I said, there's been two good political articles (the other was about resisting the Klan when they came.)

Police ringed Target Center as political rockers Rage Against the Machine took the stage.

by Jon Bream
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Free speech an peace prevailed.....

Zach said it best, "be peaceful but not passive".

There were two different messages Wednesday night at Target Center -- one outside, another inside.

A blur of blue surrounded the downtown Minneapolis arena. "I've never seen police presence like this in Minneapolis," said Bobby the Brain, a ticket tout who is a fixture at concerts and events. "I've seen this in France and Spain for the Olympics and the World Cup."

The event that brought more than 100 uniformed officers -- on horses, on bicycles and on foot, all carrying batons and most with riot helmets on their belts -- was Rage Against the Machine, a hard-rocking, vitriolically rapping band that has been a champion of the disenfranchised.

Inside, Rage's message was obvious from what the lights over the stage spelled out during intermission: R-N-C [expletive] Y-O-U.

Rage Against the Machine is the most pulverizing, galvanizing and exhilarating protest band in the history of popular music. On Wednesday, concertgoers stood and bobbed their heads, shook their fists or pogoed to the loud, unrelenting full-metal racket.