Long time supporters of various causes in Mexico, socio-political rockers Rage Against the Machine head to Mexico City to launch their third studio album (The Battle of Los Angeles) with their first ever Mexican gig. And what a gig it is! As the first bars of Testify crash forth, wave after wave of pogoing moshers surge and break against the stage. Welcome to one of the most intense live acts around. Zack and the boys leap and bounce through the entire set; and the connection between them and the audience is palpable. Tonight their anti-greed (read anti-American), pro-human rights messages come direct to the victims themselves. Of course this is not lost on the band, and it serves only to push them even further towards the edge.
From panning crane shots to handheld footage from the edge of the mosh pit, this is a well-filmed and totally immersive experience. Even at reference volume, the wave of sound pins you to your sofa.
The track list is as follows:
- Program Start (Introduction)
- Testify
- Guerrilla Radio
- Documentary Part I
- People of the Sun
- Documentary Part II
- Calm Like a Bomb
- Documentary Part III
- Sleep Now in the Fire
- Born of a Broken Man
- Bombtrack
- Know Your Enemy
- Documentary Part IV
- No Shelter
- War Within a Breath
- Documentary Part V
- Bulls on Parade
- Killing in the Name
- Zapata's Blood
- Freedom
As you can see, interspersed between the live tracks is a running documentary in which Zack introduces the plight of the Mexican people, and the struggle of the Zapatista rebels. Although these segments may not be to everyone's taste, and tend to break the flow of the live show somewhat, they place the show in context and are a great addition to the experience - letting you gain an understanding of the band's motivation whilst the performance continues. Of course if these segments really aren't your cup of tea, (or you are watching for the 100th time) they can easily be skipped.
Despite this being only a subset of the performance that night, (we are shown the complete set list in the additional footage), I was completely blown away by this gig. The noise, the energy, the music. This is a spectacular event and definitely a must-own for fans.
This is great footage, edited together in a barrage of fast and furious cuts that perfectly compliment the pace of the tracks, and convey the frenetic atmosphere of the night. In terms of video we are served a widescreen non-anamorphic image, at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The disc is single-sided and dual-layer. The image itself is absolutely flawless, with rich colours and deep blacks (a real requirement when displaying concert footage). Shadow detail is great and not one film or MPEG artefact can be seen. The image is possibly the tiniest bit soft, but this is the only criticism that can be made at all. The layer change comes between songs, just before Killing in the Name and whilst a little jarring, is well placed.
In terms of audio, we are presented with either PCM Stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1. The 5.1 mix is beautifully immersive, with the crowd literally surging around your living room. The subwoofer is also used effectively, adding extra body to the kick drum and the deeper bass riffs. All in all the disc sounds superb and I can only salivate thinking what a DTS recording may have sounded like. There is one problem however, and that is lip sync. This may just be a product of poor editing, but it affects basically the entire show and I did find it mildly distracting early on.
We are provided with two subtitle options, English and Spanish, displayed white text on black in the letterbox area.
The production values on the disc continue, with very nicely animated menus and a ton of extras - the band obviously having a large say in this disc’s production. Each live track is labelled in the same animated text as is used in on the disc menus. These labels cannot be removed.
In addition to documentary material provided during the show itself, the disc provides additional goodies as follows:
Photo Gallery: 10 images from the live show, one or two not appearing in the footage itself.
Interview with Noam Chomsky: Zack visits MIT to put some questions to well known academic Noam Chomsky on the plight of Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the role of the IMF, World Bank and WTO in economic globalisation and the exploitation of the Third World. If you have never heard Chomsky speak or read his essays on globalisation this is very interesting stuff indeed.
Interview with Marco: Marco, a Zabatista rebel, gives his perspective on North American media, globalisation (what he terms the fourth world war) and its role in the destruction of his people. Eloquent and insightful, this is real food for thought. It is presented with English subtitles.
Pre-show Segment: A short sequence of behind the scenes video showing the band en-route to Mexico, going through sound check and backstage before the gig. Narrated in part by Tom Morello.
Tom Morello’s Tour Of Mexico City: A short set of clips from Tom’s wandering around some sights in and around Mexico City.
DVD Rom Content: Although I was unable to review this stuff, the cover promises pages of information and links on topics such as NAFTA, EZLN, UNAM student protests, Diversity, Globalisation and Independent Media.
