How did the sit down start when he was giving his speech? Who was all there? Does anyone have any pictures of it?

as amazing that rage are i couldn't help but find his speech hilarious

anyone down for a riot later?

The speech was ridiculous, I had my arms defiantly folded during it.

"Let's burn the American Embassy!"
"Nah, not tonight mate."

what was the speech about...?

killing George bush and burning the American embassy

no wonder the highlights weren't shown on bbc

How George Bush should be hanged as a war criminal and everyone should stop buying American products whilst burning down the American embassy.

Achievable and reasonable targets.

The speech was ridiculous, he basically tried to explain the downfalls of American politics to 25,000 pissed scots.

haha
not much of a george Bush fan myself
Quite funny though

Exactly, what does he hope to happen? They would have cheered him even if he called William Wallace a paedophile whilst stamping on a big plate of shortbread.

It'd help if he actually knew anything about american politics, instead of just shouting broad bullshit statements with no evidence...

Were their albums not released by Epic Records? lol granted its owned by Sony now but does that mean we should stop buying their albums?

I was in amongst it. Dont know why we all started sitting down, but it was pretty class when we all started bouncing after it.

Prodigy > Rage

To be fair, I'm sure they're intelligent guys. They'd get no reaction if they just called George Bush a bit of a rascal, they're going for a crowd reaction.

To the more aware listener it's just empty and pointless, but it got a large reaction from the majority of idiots.

"There scared of YOU!!!!!!!!!!"

Me? but there a very big country

Nah they were just doing what you'd expect them to do, but it was still all pure shite. Music was quality though so I dont care.

Can you explain to me what u mean by the comment above?

Cause I think its bullshit.

2 The more aware listener its empty and pointless?

who are these more aware listeners?

People who follow american politics closely?

The sit down was pretty cool, no idea who started it but people around me started sitting down so i did too, never seen that happen at a gig before - it was good to get a rest!. The whole set was so intense, loved every second of it, the pace never let up at all. Never seen such a crowd united in unison moshing around, normally, at festivals atleast, its only the few very hardcore fans who go for it, but i swear that pretty much everyone, yeah even the indie neds were moshing and loving it like the hardcore fans. Rage are probably the only band on the planet that could do something like that.

Im not too bothered about the speech, i was just so happy that he actually made one - the last time he did was at Coachella when they reformed so it was awesome for us to get another one, even if it was pretty much the same speech. From what i heard at Oxegen they never said a thing to the crowd, so its great to know that Rage love scotland and their crowds!

People who know that what he said is totally ridiculous.

Not taking away anything from the set by the way, it was absolutely brilliant.

Haha, that came across as a bit patronising. I don't think George Bush really cares about a few Scottish festival goers.

Thak fook i missed them

He made eye contact with me at that point, think he was just speaking specifically about me.

it just came over as a bit of a rant from where I was standing. I kept expecting him to mention Tony Blair in the same breath as George Bush to make it a bit more relevant to the crowd he was preaching too, but it never happened!
Definately preaching to the wrong audiance there my man, You were in Scotland not Calafornia

To be fair it was just a 90 sec rant about their views on the state on american politics, i'm not really into the mix of politics in music, but to say they don't know what their talking about is very ignorant. They probably have more knowledge than many about what goes on in the US. Definatley more than me!
Its their view and want to spread it thats fine. At least they problems with issues people care about and aren't all lovey-lovey with polititions like Bono

Given the history of the band and the lyrics, it seems fair enough. Better that than the usual "oh wow you're just all so amazing we love playing for you here" waffle.

I don't see the problem.

Maybe the speech was done as thats what's expected. A rebel band raging against the government, getting young people all angry and mad for it. Helps sell records I guess.

but was he not ranting against the wrong goverment? Surely if he is calling for George Bush to be tried for war crimes and the state of the US political system then adding relevance by relating it to the part our own leaders played in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.....

On the other hand, maybe i'm just being too bloody serious today with my posts? doesn't suit me

Who knows, wasn't there. He may or not have been calling for our governments to be brought to their knees by the power of the people. He may have just been playing to a captive audience and speaking lots of pish.

He used that exact line when i was at Rock Am Ring....wonder if he'l say it again at Reading? lovely little speech Zachary

What exactly in an indie ned?

oops. ignore.

Reminds me of when I saw Green Day at Oxegen 2005 and Billie Joe said "My name is George Bush....my name is Tony Blair....my name is f**king asshole!", blatantly under the assumption that Ireland is ruled by the same Government as the UK.

But then again, why am I comparing RATM, a band passionate about their politics, to a band who seemingly thinks "yeah, Bush is homophobic, and he definitely thinks everyone who opposes him is gay! Let's write some deeply political lyrics by calling ourselves faggots and fight the system, dudes!" is a powerful statement?

I think Zachary made a fair point about bush being tried for war crimes to be honest, because I can say that nothing good has come out of the war in Iraq.

There wasn't even sufficient evidence for WMD's, nor sufficient evidence of them trying to make them. So why the need to invade?

It's upset most of the middle eastern communities here in Britain. But I suppose they do parade on the streets with signs saying "Behead those who insult Islam" etc...

All in all I don't feel safer at all.

Just my "two cents" as the Americans call it

I do feel that mentioning Gordon Brown would have had more significance, but it seemed like he was talking about his speech at Coachella more than anything.

did anyone see that fight in the front circle during killing in the name?

I don't believe that was a fight.

even though killing bush is not a wise option because killing is wrong period no matter who u r.

it's not as if rage sing about politics because of a current trend like green day, they have sang about politics since their first album, it is wot they r about.

still thoguh in regards to buying american products i can't help myself buying a pair of levis every now and then so sorry zach! better buying a product made in the usa than if it was made in a sweat shop in asia.

also i love music which makes me happy and dance, but sometimes u need music which has a message whether it is about politics or not which makes u think about the world around u. i would rther listen to rage than listen to kaiser chiefs singing NAA NAA NAA or AHHHHH in every song of theirs. tht is wot u call bland.

nah it wasnt a pit it was a fight they were punching utter sh*t out of each other

im glad i didn't go see rage against the machine -

if he wants to preach about politics, tell people who will actually care rather than 20 odd thousand drunks - or become a politican.

The highlights werent shown because Rage only agreed to perform if it WASN'T televised so not the bbc's fault. Also are you Murdoch in disguise? Zack started by saying he never said Bush should be assasinated but the Murdoch media obscured his statement. Also he didn't say go burn down the embassy he said the Americans are afraid we'll burn down the embassy and stop buying American exports.

You might think that's extreme but think how many people (me included) boycott nestlé for their conduct in Africa. Now think what nestlé did and compare it with the U.S.A's Israel sponsership, conduct in Iraq, Waterboarding http://youtube.com/watch?v=4LPubUCJv58 and the "War on Terror"

How do you wage war on an adjective. Call it the war ON Iraq and the war ON Afghanistan

he was obviously going to make a speech, although it was pointless cause one gave a f**k.

for a rebel band signed to a massive label such as sony,they have to feel like they are still doing the right thing by preaching now and then. I think they expect there fans to understand there politics as they do with there music.

RATM want to see change,and there trying. If one new person thought ,they made a good point and am gonna boycott slave industries,then they done there job.

You don't like what rage say,don't listen to em.

...take more than a rant about Bush to get this pissed Scot's airse sitting in wee!

scotia

Glad he got everyone to sit down regardless of what it was for, my legs were f**king aching!

Is this a thread of people amazed that RATM had a bit of a political spiel? Ever heard any of their lyrics? Why is everyone trying to be more apathetic than each other?

His speech was funny,,, predictable as ever......

Yes he made quite a long speech at Coachella last year, attacking George Bush, Tony Blair etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QSmnBFaVT8

I was glad to hear him mention it again as I was there last year when he made it

I thought the speach was more them justifying their decision not to allow BBC to broadcast because of what the Fox News Network done last year, then the band giving their opinions on why such smear campaigns happen. Pretty simple to be honest and the fact that there are alot of people in the crowd who do beleive in the same ideals as Rage made the speach worthwhile IMO, also not once did he tell anyone to kill Bush or burn down the embassy, he said that the American Government are scared of these things happening in the event of a revolt by the public, hence such smear campaigns and coverups.

...Nup I dont think anyone has anything against a political speech, (admittedly I hadnt heard of RATM much compared to other political figures that interest me MalcomX, Bantu Biko, Martin Luther King) - we went because my 15yo wanted to see them, which was fine with me - (we were the ones with the Che Guevara - hasta la victoria siempre flag in the middle) - & I really tried to listen, but I still couldnt hear any of their lyrics, just noise... (Hey forgive me!, Im getting old!) - so today I spent some time reading up on the band (mainly so my elder son doesn't discover Im not really that *kewl* after all)...

scotia

hahaha