In the shadow of Washington, Bruce Springsteen and a few musical giants had a message for the world: “Let them hear you in Washington,” he cheered. He played a number of political songs during his headlining set at the inaugural “Power to the People” star-studded protest festival at Columbia, Maryland’s Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday. Organized by Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, the festival aimed to celebrate “peace, justice, solidarity, music and community action,” according to its mission statement, and promote voter turnout.
Additionally, a portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales will benefit the organizations VoteRiders and HeadCount.
Many of the acts used their platform to denounce recent actions conducted by the U.S. government. The one-day, two-stage festival boasted a stacked lineup heavy with veteran rock ‘n’ roll bands. It also included performances by acts like Dropkick Murphys, Jack Black, Serj Tankian, Killer Mike and the Linda Lindas.
Springsteen opened with “Streets of Minneapolis,” in response to the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents.
“The power and solidarity of the people of Minneapolis, of Minnesota, is an inspiration to the entire country,” he told the sold-out crowd. “Their strength and their commitment told us that this is still America, and this will not stand. They gave us hope. They showed us courage.”
For his second number, folk icon Joan Baez emerged, and the pair duetted Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom.” Later, Springsteen, Morello, Dave Matthews and Nathaniel Rateliff joined forces for Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son.”
In addition to the protest music on stage, fans in the crowd wore shirts with strong messages. “Immigrants Make America Great,” read one. “No Kings,” “No one is illegal on stolen land,” “Bring on the Matriarchy” read others.
Morello’s early evening set, he was joined by System of a Down’s Serj Tankian for a duet of Audioslave’s “Like a Stone” in honour of the late frontman Chris Cornell. It was the start of a trend: After Tankian came Chuck D, Run DMC, Flavor Flav for various covers; Morello and Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl also tackled Kiss’ “Rock and Roll All Nite.”
Jack Black appeared on stage as “Jack Sabbath,” performing Black Sabbath covers while backed by a band of children — including the sons of Morello and Anthrax’s Scott Ian — in what read like both a real-life “School of Rock” set and a touching tribute to the late, great Ozzy Osbourne. In fact, Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler joined them on stage for “War Pigs.”
Baez, Rateliff and Matthews joined forces for Woody Guthrie’s protest song “Deportees,” before launching into Baez’s “(Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody) Turn Me Around.”
As they exited, Stephen Stills took the stage to perform Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.”
The festival, which Baez labelled a “magnificent antidote,” concluded with all the day’s performers singing Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” — with all its original verses — as well as John Lennon’s “Power to the People.”
Well this looks like it was incredible