On Saturday, October 3, the Power to the People festival, hosted by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, took the stage at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. On two stages, kings of rock, alternative and hip hop came together to remind Americans of their ability to change the future and reconquer American democracy.
The composition of the musicians was legendary. Joan Baez, Jack Black, Cypress Hill, Dropkick Murphys, Flavor Flav, Foo Fighters, The Linda Lindas, Mike McCready, Killer Mike, Dave Matthews, Public Enemy, Nathaniel Rateliffe, Bruce Springsteen, Stephen Stills and Serj Tankian, among others, have spanned seven decades of American music.
The festival featured a “Freedom Village” where attendees could find ways to get involved in government, local organizations, education, mutual aid and social impact organizations. Festival organizers donated a portion of proceeds from ticket sales to VoteRiders, a nonpartisan organization that works to overcome barriers to voting and ensure that all eligible people can vote.
In person and during the livestream of the concert, the artists urged Americans to remember that they have the power to overthrow the Trump administration and, together, build a better nation.
The artists present at the event clearly demonstrated their right to freedom of expression. They were explicit and thorough in their spoken descriptions of their anger at the Trump administration and the billionaires who took over the country, and they chose songs that poked fun at Trump — John Fogerty’s “Fortunate Son,” for example — or denounced his policies: Baez and Rateliff sang Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),” Springsteen sang “Streets of Minneapolis,” and the Dropkick Murphys sang “Don’t Call Me a”. F*cking Terrorist,” the latter two written in the wake of the Minneapolis shootings by ICE agents.
They highlighted their freedom of expression by singing Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”
The ten-hour concert ended with the performers singing Guthrie’s famous anthem “This Land is Your Land,” written in 1940 as the Great Depression dragged on. Guthrie wrote it to win back the United States of America for its workers. “This land is your land,” he wrote, “this land is my land/From California to the islands of New York/From the redwood forest to the waters of the Gulf Stream/This land was made for you and me.” »
Tonight, Morello sang an oft-forgotten verse from the anthem: “In the town squares, in the shadow of the bell tower/Near the relief office, I saw my people/As they stood there, hungry, I stood there asking/Is this land made for you and me?”
Guthrie painted his guitars with the words “This Machine Kills Fascists,” a slogan he borrowed from World War II machinists and workers who put stickers saying “This Machine Kills Fascists” on their heavy equipment to express support for the war effort. Guthrie believed that music could combat the hatred, ignorance and greed that built fascism with as much power as a gun.
Tonight, Morello reminded the audience, “Every artistic act is an act of resistance. »
Oddly enough, today’s concert took place on the anniversary of Woody Guthrie’s death in 1967. And eighty-six years after he wrote “This Land is Your Land,” his work continues to resonate.
“This is still America,” Springsteen told the audience of the administration’s tyranny, “and it won’t stand.”
—
Remarks :
https://rock929rocks.com/2026/10/02/rock-heavyweights-unite-for-power-to-the-people-festival/
The Story Behind “This Machine Kills Fascists”: The Meaning, History & Why Woody Guthrie Wrote It
YouTube:
watch?v=gtRBUpyZYFw
Blue sky:
serendipityinfl.bsky.social/post/3mwzjjsoe222h
they callmegary.bsky.social/post/3mwz76kpax22y
Gn entert
