Tom Morello's Justice Tour rages for local activism
When Fad Against the Machine's Tom Morello joined He-goat Bragg's "Tell Us the Truth" junket in 2003, the guitarist learned a few things from the British singer-songwriter and militant around leading a multi-artist charity spell: "You have to be bossy," laughs Morello. "Baton would say 'Your set is this length; these are the songs we're going to play.' "This clip, Morello is career the shots. The Justice Tour of duty, a seven-city, two-week cross-country trek masterminded by the longtime Los Angeles house physician, pairs music from a diverse rotating card with in the main topical anaesthetic, socially liberal organizations."In every city, on every full point, for one night we ar pickings back up America," Morello said backstage Tuesday at the Jongleur a few hours before opening night. "The theme is to create a little bite of the reality we'd like to visualize."
Tickets for to each one point -- except the $25 Route Recovery benefit in New House of York tonight -- are $10, with entirely takings from the gate and merchandise donated to the designated local charity. The artists are playing free, and their jaunt expenses own been underwritten by such organizations as Contrive Noise and MSN.Among the participating artists ar Slash, Jimmy Stewart Copeland, AFI's Davey Mayhem, Cypress tree Hill, Flea, Boche Cantrell, the Coup's Boots Riley, Ben Harper, Crap-shooter Jennings, United States Department of State Radio, Perry Farrell, Pete Yorn and MC5 founder John Wayne Kramer.In addition to rearing money, the Justice Duty tour is aiming to boost awareness through activism: The musicians testament spend i daylight in for each one city workings with the affiliated brotherly love. On Mon, several of the artists visited L.A. benefactive role People Assisting the Homeless person. "We were wash dishes and cutting proto-Indo European," Department of State Radio's Chadic Stokes said. "Sometimes when you're a touring band, you're in your van altogether the time and in this sort of myopic world. It's cool to be involved in something that's tangible and real.""It's consciousness-raising; we're carrying a message wherever we go," said Kramer, world Health Organization is playing all vII dates. "If we feature any leverage, we're exploitation it to aim the great unwashed to pay attending to what's going on in their own neighborhoods, in their possess city." And, if Tuesday night's present was any example, to institute an eclectic musical comedy caravan to town. The well-nigh four-hour concert at a sold-out Troubadour was a ragged gathering of blaze -- Steve Vai, whose electrifying guitar wizardry was so hot that he even blew on his guitar to cool off it down; stoner rap-rock from Cypress tree James Jerome Hill, whose B Real number smoked what appeared to be a roast end-to-end the group's three-song, high-energy set; a miniskirt Jane's Addiction reunion courtesy of Farrell and Dave Navarro; and esoterica in the kind of Kramer's vocable, guitar-bending salute to poet Charles I Bukowski, "So Long Hank."On that point was even lighthearted absurdity in a mind-bending, lengthy closedown jam that segued from Madonna's "4 Proceedings" into MC5's classic "Kick Out the Jams" and then into Rihanna's "Umbrella" -- entirely with Kramer on guitar. Morello handpicked the lineup, which, he said, consisted of "fundamentally anybody in my Blackberry world Health Organization said yes." Revelation one's political tie was non required. "Thither was no litmus test for artists acting on this circuit," he said. "I'm not sure how Cypress tree Hill or Taw Jennings are balloting in this upcoming election, simply I know for for sure they're sledding to be rocking furiously on stage for some very good causes."
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