Revolution’s a sellout and somehow nobody’s bothered to mention when the damn thing begins
By Ray Shelton
MUSIC ART / CULTURE / IDEAS / 10.07.26
"It can get a hundred strangers to agree on a chorus and almost no one on where to park."
COLUMBIA, Md. Saturday, October 3, Merriweather Post Pavilion. It was packed. Power to the People, Tom Morello's thing. Tickets disappeared fast. No schedule anywhere. You just stood around and waited for whoever wandered onstage. Sometimes you got lucky. Sometimes you didn't. That's how it went.
Lawn tickets were $125. Not cheap. A bargain if you still have a job, or a joke if you don't. Some scalpers wanted over a grand. For grass. I'm not making this up.
Didn't get a ticket? You watched at home. YouTube stream started at 1. Food was better, bathroom was closer. But it's not the same.
They said it wasn't political. Sure. People on stage talked about voting Trump out. Call it what you want.
Freedom Village was a bunch of booths: government, organizers, teachers, people passing out flyers. Some ticket money went to VoteRiders. Same with VIP seats. There was a letter-writing thing for new voters in Pennsylvania. Yeah, not exactly wild, but it was there.
“Let them hear you in Washington,” he says. Hello, we’re in Columbia, Maryland. They can’t hear you in Washington. Okay, everybody yell at the same time. Nothing?
What Morello Says It's For
Morello's pitch is simple: a show about peace, love, justice and music. The idea underneath is that everyday people have power when they come together through music, art, community and action. He also told Stereogum it was an "anti-racist,
anti-fascist" celebration, while the festival billed itself as nonpartisan and aimed to promote voter turnout. Call it a thesis with two settings.
Joan Baez, Obviously
Of course Joan Baez played. She's been at this forever: March on Washington, Selma, anti-war stuff. On Saturday she sang with Nathaniel Rateliff. Old guard meeting new blood. It worked.
She once said action is the antidote to despair. So, naturally, she called the festival a "magnificent antidote." The rest of the bill was a protest festival; she was the original source material. Booking her isn't so much a lineup addition as it is citing your references.
The Senior Rapper Question
Here's the weird part: Hip hop's more than 50 years old now. So yeah, Cypress Hill and Public Enemy were there. Chuck D, Run DMC, Flavor Flav too. Old-school legends doing their thing. Hip hop's got senior members now. Still figuring out what that looks like.
The Covers
Morello and Serj Tankian played "Like a Stone" for Chris Cornell. Later, Morello and Dave Grohl did "Rock and Roll All Nite." Not political, just loud. Jack Black fronted a Sabbath cover band (Jack Sabbath) made up of teenagers, specifically Tom Morello and Scott Ian's kids. The kids nailed it. Perhaps the funnest performance of event.
It ended with every performer singing "This Land Is Your Land", all the original verses, then Lennon's "Power to the People." Morello even sang the verse that usually gets left out, the one about the relief office. Which, let's be honest, is kind of the point of the song.
The Power of Music (Terms and Conditions Apply)
People say music brings everyone together. Maybe. For a few hours, maybe. Rock, rap, folk, everybody on the same stage, singing the same song at the end. It felt good. But that kind of unity? Doesn't stick around. Tickets were gone in minutes. Most of us just watched online, hoping for some of that festival magic through a screen. It felt big for a while, right up until the stream crashed. According to the AP, it cut out as Grandson brought out two actors, one as Epstein, one as Trump, both on a leash (see the CBS story). That's one way to lose a feed.
Heather Cox Richardson says Morello told the crowd that every act of art is an act of resistance. It's a hell of a statement. Covers a lot. Even a livestream that goes dark.
If you missed the live broadcast,
the full 10-hour festival stream was
made available to watch on the official
Side Note:
Rock the Vote
Rock the Vote was one of the organizations in Freedom Village at the festival. It’s a nonpartisan nonprofit that has spent more than thirty years working on youth voter registration, education, and turnout. It offers an online voter registration platform and a registration status lookup. Do it online, even while someone is covering “Rock and Roll All Nite.”
What you can do: Check that you’re registered at rockthevote.org. If you aren’t, or you moved, fix it now.
Can’t Vote? You Can Still Do Something.
Not everyone can vote: kids, non-citizens, people with a felony record. Voting rules vary by state, so if you’re not sure you’re locked out, find out first. If you really can’t, here is what the sources say you can do:
Not everyone can vote: kids, non-citizens, people with a felony record. Voting rules vary by state, so if you’re not sure you’re locked out, find out first. If you really can’t, here is what the sources say you can do:
Help people who can vote. Ask friends and family whether they’re registered, remind them when and where to vote, and drive them if they need a ride.
Volunteer. Contact a campaign or local group and ask what they need. Non-citizens can also volunteer unpaid.
If you’re under 18, many states let 16- and 17-year-olds work the polls. You can also pre-register in many states, so you’re ready at 18.
Talk about it. Organize conversations with people around you about what’s on the ballot.
If you’re not a citizen, check your local rules. Some places allow non-citizens to vote in certain local elections. Donations to campaigns are restricted for non-citizens, so check before you give.
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