In 2020, Rage Against the Machine announced they would be reuniting, embarking on their first full-length tour in 20 years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their “Public Service Announcement Tour” faced multiple postponements, and was eventually rescheduled to take place in 2022 and 2023. However, on only the third show of the tour, frontman Zach de la Rocha injured his leg. Despite attempting to push through it, performing while seated at the next 15 gigs, RATM were forced to cancel the remainder of their concerts in order to allow de la Rocha to properly heal.
Since then, these highly anticipated reunion shows have garnered quite a bit of criticism online, specifically from those who claim the band required a COVID-19 vaccination in order to attend the tour – something which guitarist Tom Morello has continuously denied over the last few years.
Now, Morello is addressing another complaint: that the band’s ticket prices were too expensive.
On Thursday (May 29th), a user on Twitter/X accused RATM of selling tickets “between $300 and $600,” adding that “by agreeing to play at venues like the United Center in 2022, which required proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 tests for some shows, Rage for the Machine implicitly endorsed those rules.”
In an attempt to set the record straight, Morello replied: “Lies. 90% of tickets were $125. For the other 10% every single penny went to charity in each city.”
Morello continued, refuting the claim that vaccinations were required to attend their concerts: “And all the shows were sold out in 2019 before any vax mandates in place and all mandates had been lifted in every single venue, including the United Center, when we performed in 2022. ZERO fans required proof of vax or negative tests.”
