Ok, so it was almost three weeks ago.. At least I'm wrote about it, right? Of course. 


If you don't stalk me on Twitter, Facebook, or tumblr, I went to L.A. Rising on 30 July, mostly because of my sister, Amy. 
Amy's birthday is 30 July 1990. You do the math? She turned 21 this year so it was a given that we'd go to L.A. Rising. Not just because it was her birthday, but also for the line up: El Gran Silencio, Immortal Technique, Lauryn Hill, Rise Against, Muse, and all the original members of Rage Against The Machine. 

Amy's ticket

We got tickets on pre-sale thanks to KROQ and a friend of mine on Twitter who gave me the heads up. Amy and I tried and tried for two hours to get GA tickets but we ended up with seats; section 19, row 26, seats 108 (mine) and 109 (Amy's). In looking at the seating, we realized that we had great tickets. 
We ended up going with two of our friends to the show. 

Amy and I didn't sleep much on the 29th and we left at 5am on the 30th after a three hour nap, got to L.A. at 7:30am. Amazing, right? That's what happens when there isn't any traffic. 

The plan was to arrive in L.A., find a place to stay the night, eat at Roscoe's House of Chicken'N Waffles, and then head to the Coliseum for the concert. 
Here's what really happened: we got to L.A., ate at Roscoe's, found a place to stay the night, then headed to the Coliseum. But since we couldn't reserve a room 'cause none of us had a credit card we stayed at this rancid place. I swear, there was a mattress on the sidewalk cleaner than what I saw at this hostel. 

The exit for the Coliseum was couple miles long, about a 30 to 45 minute wait. By now, the four of us are getting all excited for the show.
We arrive relatively early and kill some time in the parking structure. "No tail-gating". Yeah, right. The parking lot was a pre-party place. We get too anxious to wait around any more and we head to the Coliseum after a few Tequila shots; one of Amy's friends gave her a bottle of Don Julio Blanco. 


 After we get in and find out seats, El Gran Silencio is half way through their set. There are people everywhere but the Coliseum itself was still pretty empty. Try as I can, even three weeks later, I can't find anything on what songs El Gran Silencio played. 

Immortal Technique and his crew

The next artist up was Immortal Technique. If you don't know who he is, keep your mind open. His songs are heavy as hell but it is the truth. In searching the net for his set list, the same thing applies to Immortal Technique; can't find a list of the songs me preformed. All I can remember is "Bin Laden" and his last song was "Dance With The Devil". However, I noticed that he did a few of his most popular songs from Youtube. If you decide that you like what he has to say, you can go ahead and download his entire discography however you see fit. He told everyone in the Coliseum they could. All he asked for in return is that you show your support by going to shows that promote underground Hip-Hop. 

I was really looking forward to seeing Ms. Lauryn Hill preform. I mean, its Lauryn Hill! 
Holy crap, did her set suck. As soon as she started "singing" until the end of her turn on stage, it was absolutely horrible. It was such a disappointment! Wailing, screaming. She did one song after another without any breaks in between. The only people enjoying the so called music were two white guys near where Amy and I were seated. The sound was up too loud for the pessimal performance Hill gave. Sure, she'd given birth to her, what, sixth kid two days before. No, Ms. Hill's time in the limelight has ended. I would much rather have kept my illusion of her greatness than to have witnessed her massacre her own songs.

Rise Against at L.A. Rising 2011

I've seen Rise Against before, at the annual Wrex the Halls show 91X hosts. So, I wasn't as excited to see them. But I still love them. Naturally, this is also when the moshing began. 

Rise Against did 14 songs from all six of their albums. Apparently, set lists for anyone before Muse is nonexistent online. Lame. 

One of the highlights of Rise Against's stage time didn't have anything to do with the band at all. The GA standing room only area was divided into three different sections: section 1, section 2, and section 3. Section 3 where all the furthest from the stage. CSC security were already having a hell of a time keeping everyone in their own sections, when there was a burst of people rushing through all of a sudden. The onlookers around us stopped paying attention to what was going on at the stage and screamed and rooted for this one guy running like a bat outta hell from section 3 to section 2. I'm not even sure if he was caught, but those of us seated in section 19 cheered him on like no other.

Muse. Oh, Muse. How I love thee. By listening to Muse on your Zune, you wouldn't really think you could headbang to them, huh? After you see them live, you'll think differently. I'd been told that Muse put on "good" concerts. "Good" doesn't begin to cover it in the least! Muse is fucking amazing live!! OMG! They're indescribably awesome! Great, they're great. Go see them live. Don't argue.  

Muse preforming at L.A. Rising 2011

Their set list: 

1. "Exogenesis: Symphony Part I (Overture)" 
   
2. "Uprising"  
3. "Map of the Problematique" + medley outro 
   
4. "Supermassive Black Hole"  
5. "Butterflies & Hurricanes"   
6. "Back in Black" intro / "Star Spangled Banner" / "Hysteria" / "Back in Black" Outro  
7. "Heartbreaker" / "Nishe" / "United States of Eurasia"  
8. "Helsinki Jam" / "Undisclosed Desires"  
9. "Resistance"  
10. "Starlight"  
11. "House of the Rising Sun" / "Time is Running Out"  
12. "Stockholm Syndrome" / "Township Rebellion"  
13. "Plug in Baby", "Man with a Harmonica" / "Knights of Cydonia"   

Imagine 70,000+ people singing along to "House of the Rising Sun". It was the sickest thing. My auditory and visual cortices were very well pleased with Muse. I still smile and see Muse whenever I hear a song from their set list on the radio or on my Zune. 
Given that Muse is relatively mellow, you'd think that the people in attendance wouldn't have moshed. So wrong. There was a tent in the middle of section 3 of the GA space. That poor tent. Went up in flames, it did. Literally. The crazies tore it the hell down and set fire to the oppressive regime of the tent. I'm guessing they couldn't see the stage well enough. I thought it was hilarious.

Then, then came THE headliner. Rage Against The Machine. RATM. Rage. With all the original band members. Both Amy and I were in such awe. Over 70,000 people going completely insane with RATM. Everyone was on their feet and singing along. Have you ever heard 70,000 people singing along to every song. It was something I'd never experienced before and the feeling of unity I had to all those other people is so unique. Let's not forget the mosh pits, fires, and overall anarchy. From where Amy and I were sitting, could see the whole GA area, including all the attempts people made to get onto the floor. A few made it. But a few more were also tackled by CSC security. It was brutal. Throughout their set, I was in shock. I could not believe that I was watching and listening to Rage Against The Machine in front of me. It was surreal.
According to the September issue of Rolling Stone, Tom Morello really liked L.A. Rising. Now you know you have to believe me when I say that it was orgasmic. 
In case you want to make a playlist: 

Tim, Brad, Zack, and Tom

1. "Testify"
2. "Bombtrack"
3. "People of the Sun"
4. "Know Your Enemy"
5. "Bulls on Parade"
6. "Township Rebellion"
7. "Bullet in the Head"
8. "Down Rodeo"
9. "Guerrilla Radio"
10. "Calm Like a Bomb"
11. "Sleep Now in the Fire"
12. "Wake Up"

After the last song, NO ONE moved. No one. It was like RATM was taking a break and we let them. But we all started chanting "RAGE" so as to get the guys back out for a few more songs. And they did come back and gave us "Freedom" and "Killing in the Name". 
 

Plans are already in the works for L.A. Rising 2012. But there still isn't any word on who will be headlining, however, RATM has said that this show was probably their last one together.


Los links: 

• L.A. Rising 
•  KROQ
• El Gran Silencio 
• Immortal Technique 
• Lauryn Hill 
• Rise Against 
• Muse 
• Rage Against The Machine 
• Youtube L.A. Rising search 
• My pictures! 

Amy took video of Muse and RATM, but the visual quality isn't that great. But if you really want to see what we recorded, let me know. 

If you have a tumblog, you can also to an L.A. Rising search and find a ton more from people that were at the concert.