Quebec Summer Festival | Rage Against the Machine and Alexisonfire: Flawless

It’s been two years since their presence in Quebec was announced and it was finally Saturday night that Rage Against the Machine took the stage at the FEQ. We were there. It was perfect.

Marissa Groguhe
The Press

Before Rage Against the Machine arrived, the equally impressive Alexisonfire showed up in front of the Plains. And even a little earlier, it was the group Vulgaires Machins who had entertained the festival-goers of the FEQ.

It’s been 10 years since the rockers from Granby played on a Quebec stage. For their “first and last show of the summer,” the musicians were treated to crowded Plains, as they opened for Alexisonfire and Rage Against the Machine. It was pleasant to see these Quebec musicians occupy this place of choice.

Their assertive yet literal lyrics, aided by their catchy melodies, provided satisfying entertainment as festival-goers poured into the main festival site in their thousands. The training has experience and you can feel it.

Abducting Alexisonfire

“Holy fucking shit”, we could read on the lips of George Pettit, comeur of the group when he arrived on stage and realized the crowd which awaited him.

In beige overalls, looking crazy, his long hair often hiding his face, he delivered a truly stunning vocal performance. Next to him on the second microphone, Dallas Green, hair longer than usual, without glasses, an Alice on Chains sweater on the back, was just as remarkable. The two charismatic musicians, accompanied by their acolytes, including the equally charismatic Wade McNeil (on vocals and guitar), sparked a madness on the Plains.

The perfect marriage of their two styles of singing, of their energies (Dallas, the quiet force, George, the unleashed) is fantastic to observe in concert.

Alexisonfire offered classic songs from his repertoire as well as new tracks from his superb latest album, Otherness, released only a few weeks ago. “Tens of thousands of people for rock music, that’s something! praised George Pettit, saying that nothing else in Canada was like the Festival d’été de Québec.

Electrifying Rage Against the Machine

The moment most anticipated by most festival-goers on Saturday was of course the arrival of Rage Against the Machine. The tour Public Service Announcement from the Californian group is a blessing for fans. A return to a provided discography, without any new song to present, but with the opportunity to satisfy those who know his albums.

For the purposes of this article, in order to report the full experience that was this RATM show, we launched into the middle of the crowd, right in front of the stage. Before the band arrived on stage, the tension was at its height. Everyone around us was just waiting for the moment when it would be possible to indulge in the sound of sharp guitars, frenzied drums.

When, finally, Zack de la Rocha and his gang showed up, that the classic Bomb track roared, it was no longer possible to stay steady on his feet. Thousands of fashionable people mosh pit. Electricity in the air, in the crowd, all around.

Rage Against the Machine put on a sensational show that will be remembered for a long time. Zack de la Rocha, immobilized on a chair due to a fracture, was as impeccable vocally as in his delivery, bringing into the little movement that was allowed to him all the ferocity of the words he sang.

Tom Morello was Tom Morello, undisputed guitar god. Whether it’s alternating between his regular guitars and the double-necked one, by lining up the exciting solos or by playing with his teeth, he has been up to the task (unsurprisingly). Brad Wilk (on drums) and Tim Commerford (on bass) didn’t fail either. On the instrumental side, delivering songs that we know are complex, Rage Against the Machine was precise, hard-hitting, irreproachable.

Denounce, always denounce

“Time to express our frustration with everything that is going on in the world right now. This was the purpose of this evening, announced Zack de la Rocha to the tens of thousands of people in front of him. Rage Against the Machine is political, radically anti-establishment.

The American group accompanied its songs with messages, beyond their words. Like when the screen behind him displayed statistics showing the discrimination faced by Indigenous peoples in Canada. “Colonialism is murder. Zack de la Rocha warned of the threat of backsliding on human rights in our modern societies. It “fucks” the borders and asks for more solidarity.

Killing in the Name ended the evening on the best possible note. “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me”, chanted, unleashed, several tens of thousands of people at the same time as de la Rocha.

Attending a performance of Rage Against the Machine is like taking a series of rants in the face, over which to shout your own rage. It’s a time to let off steam, let everything out if you wish, let yourself be fully carried away by the music and the words. It’s a perfect moment.