After decades of Indian fans begging for a chance to witness those uncut guitar strings dangling from the headstock and the signature toggle switch (no, it’s not a kill switch) wielding guitarist who inspired a generation, Bengaluru audiences finally got to witness Tom Morello live, last Sunday evening. The conclusion of the Grammy-winning guitarist’s first-ever India tour, part of the Bandland on Tour series, was worth the wait and exactly what fans hoped for. Tom Morello brought his band The Freedom Fighter Orchestra to what he was told was India’s supposed rock capital, and by the end of the night, there was no “supposed” about it. Morello delivered a transcendent masterclass in guitar virtuosity and crowd energy with tracks from Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, The Nightwatchman, and renditions of rock and metal classics.
Venue Sugar and Spice
First, the logistics. Phoenix Marketcity‘s notorious courtyard venue, source of countless complaints from concertgoers, was mercifully abandoned. Instead, the show moved to a much larger space behind the mall near the parking lot. The same spot where Seedhe Maut had recently performed. Bigger? Yes. Easy to find? Absolutely not. The labyrinthine path to reach the venue left more than a few fans wandering lost through the mall, a minor odyssey before the main event.
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Gates advertised for 5 PM finally opened around 6. The bag-check machine created small bottlenecks, and one unfortunate soul lost their mint box to overzealous security citing “no food allowed” policies. But these were minor grievances. Once inside, the logistics smoothed out, including, crucially, the washrooms. (Washroom quality is the ultimate litmus test of event organization, and Bandland has been consistently stellar in this regard). Washrooms aside, completely free water, a very visible Medical assistance tent were great to see.
It was good that a substantial section of the audience skewed older, middle-aged fans who’d grown with Rage Against The Machine, now standing alongside younger disciples.
Kannur rage
The perfect opening band for the headliner, considering their stellar socio-politically conscious work, Kannur metallers The Down Troddence kicked off with their signature opener Nagavalli. The band, featuring Ujwal KS of Pineapple Express and Inner Sanctum on drums, powered through with their characteristic intensity, delivering tracks like Ejjathi, their upcoming single Seven, Kolam, Maharani from their latest-upcoming album AYAKTIHIS, along with previous hits like KFC and Shiva. While the band’s excellent live graphics were missing, TDT delivered a short tight set and audiences would happily have wanted a few more songs.
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Hasta la victoria
Tom Morello emerged, signature cap, scarf, dark sunglasses, and that unmistakable presence. Flanked by The Freedom Fighter Orchestra (Carl Restivo on guitar and vocals, Dave Gibbs on bass, Eric Gardner on drums) along with his 14-year-old prodigy son Roman Morello, he opened with “Soldier In The Army of Love” that opening dissonant anthem announcing exactly what kind of night this would be. Morello, whose Arm the Homeless guitar is quite known, was also using his new tour guitar “The Black Rattler”.
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Across changing axes, Morello’s creative signature guitar style with scratched, percussive elements, feedback, kill switch/toggle switch, and some sweet melodic shreds was a joy to savour. The instrumental moments crystallized the night for me. Secretariat (for EVH) his tribute to Eddie Van Halen, a blur of toggle-switch stutters that deconstructed and reconstructed, followed . Then, one of my personal moments “Cato Stedman & Neptune Frost” that alternative rock blues instrumental where Morello phrased with such melodic beauty and raw power.
Young Roman matched his father blow for blow. His rendition of Steve Vai’s “For The Love of God” earned unified calls of his name from the audience. When father and son tackled Ozzy Osbourne’s Mr. Crowley, a tribute to the late Randy Rhoads and the Black Sabbath legend who Morello remembered for the night, you could see the torch being passed in real time. Acoustic blues moments, smoky, heavy, raw, gave way to choral hand claps and good old American protest folk rock in the Delta blues of “Keep Going” and the protest anthem “One Man Revolution“.
Two sets of RATM medleys had the venue erupt. From the signature riff from “Freedom.” The helicopter-scratch opening of “Testify.” “Bombtrack.” “Bulls On Parade”. Man, did you know those riffs. One of the night’s most moving moments arrived during Audioslave‘s “Like A Stone.” An empty microphone stood center stage, spotlit, while the crowd sang Chris Cornell‘s words back to the void he left behind.
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Bengaluru earned special treatment with India’s star rapper Hanumankind joining Morello onstage for a nu metal interpretation of “Big Dawgs“, which sure won approval from the crowd. But the wildest moment of the night was the crowd going volcanic for “Killing in the Name,” resulting in an incredible mosh pit. The night concluded with some warm renditions of John Lennon’s “Power to the People” and Kiss’s “Rock and Roll All Nite“, which sent everyone home buzzing. And seeing Tom Morello fling his axe to his guitar tech was, well, a heart-stopping sight.
Beyond the Music
Minor irritations were security and bouncers ushering people out well before the stated 10:30 PM end time, creating an unnecessarily rushed exodus. For an event celebrating resistance and revolution, the early eviction felt jarringly authoritarian. But these complaints fade against the larger aftertaste of the evening.
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I left Phoenix Marketcity inspired. Not just by the musicianship, though watching Morello coax sounds from six strings is good reason, but by the uncompromising politics he wears on his sleeve. In an era when artists hedge and “both sides” their way out of conviction, Morello still pins his politics to his art, remains defiantly, unapologetically anti-imperialist and socialist. His music has always been inseparable from his message and 30 years into his career, he hasn’t softened a single edge. That coupled with raw punk rock energy, rap-rock fury, and tasty blues soaked soloing. An artist who understands that his music is a tool for change.
Morello repeatedly reminded the crowd he’d waited 30 years to play in India. We’d waited just as long to have him. The question now, when does he come back? Because Bengaluru, India’s rock capital, as certified by one of rock’s greatest revolutionaries, is already hungry for more.
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