This one gets a seperate write-up because it felt like its own seperate concert.

The other big reason I went to Coachella this year - the Rage Against The Machine reunion.

My brother Marc always refers to this mix-tape I sent him from college back in 1993 that he says is the definitive Michael old-school style. It was front-loaded with all the heavy guitar ass-kickers of the early 90's because that was my main thing back then (Helmet being the best and my favorite).

Over the years I got to see most of the bands or personalities on that tape with one huge exception. I never saw Rage Against The Machine.

I thought these guys were great then and over the course of the 90's I grew to like them even more. Tom Morello is a true guitar god and Zach De La Rocha is the closest thing to a "Che Guevara" personality rock music has ever produced. "Know Your Enemy" is one of the best songs ever written and I always thought that their final proper album "The Battle For Los Angeles" was a minor masterpiece.

It's not that I did not try to see Rage play in their heydey. I did and for some reason the plans always got screwed up. Most notably when they cancelled in '99 when they were supposed play RFK with the Beastie Boys (thanks Mike D for busting your leg).

I know as an ever evolving music geek I am supposed to poo-poo Rage Against The Machine, supposed to roll my eyes, make fun of their followers, and ridicule their reunion. But I am unable to do so. Because frankly I am not a music snob (although I may sometimes seem like one) I am a music fan. And Rage Against The Machine has always struck a deep chord in me that at Coachella I finally got a chance to experience live.

Their show was inspiring. If anything, Tom Morello is a better guitar player now then he was on the albums. When he started jerking off his guitar on the quiet parts of "Calm Like A Bomb" it was a near religious experience. Not to mention the total, supreme ass-kickery of his riff assaults from the rest of their catalog on display that night. Zach Da La Rocha came across as a much calmer personality, perhaps influenced by the perspective of age, he delivered the lyrics with a seething intensity that took songs like "Sleep Now In The Fire" to a whole new level. This was a much more impressive Zach than the quick-tongued firebrand of the 90's - he came across as much more realistic in his idealism, grounded more in reality than the pie-in-the-sky preachiness of his youth (that frankly got on my nerves back then).

The crowd was reported to be the largest Coachella closing night main stage crowd ever and I don't doubt it. I took off into the sea of humanity to try to get a good spot for the show, but also to let the Rage take hold. I knew I'd get into this show like the old-school boot-stompers of my youth and it did not disappoint. I made it about 30 thousand people into the crowd when the music took over and the 20 thousand people surrounding me in the front section turned into a charnel house (ie: the largest mosh pit in history).

It was a great human moment. Surrounded by fans beating the crap out of each other, jumping 10 feet into the air, thousands of fists pumping, and of course singing/screaming along. I can't fully express the sheer joy of screaming, "We Don't Need The Key We'll Break In!" and "Hardline, hardline, after hardline!" along with 50 thousand other people. Rage Against The Machine led the audience through a powerful group experience (that aside from the positive message) I can only imagine is akin to what it felt like to be on the field at Nuremberg in pre-war Germany. It was hypnotic, violent, music nirvana.

Note: The setlist floating around the internet for the RATM set is incorrect. They played more than 13 songs, including my favorite "Know Your Enemy".