In 2002, Rage Against The Machine Sat Down With Noam Chomsky. The Result? High Art

Back in 2002, Rage Against The Machine released a concert documentary called The Battle of Mexico City on DVD.

The film, a document of their performance at Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico, is searing. Rage had never before played in Mexico, despite lead singer Zack de la Rocha being a vocal supporter of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, a leftist group operating out of the Mexican state of Chiapas.

As a result of that delay, the performance has the antic, unrepeatable energy you get when you play for an audience that have been waiting for you for a long time.

Eighteen songs in, the band perform ‘Killing In The Name’ and the place erupts. By the time Tom Morello is done with his wailing solo, the crowd appear to have reached something like genuine ecstasy.

But the virulent political outrage of the Battle of Mexico City DVD wasn’t just contained within that recorded concert. Added as an extra on the DVD was a conversation between de la Rocha and famed author, activist, philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky.

De la Rocha had long been a fan of Chomsky, citing him as one of the authors who first helped him understand the threat of globalisation. As a result, one of the immediate pleasures of the chat is the fact that de la Rocha seems so nervous, genuinely overwhelmed to be in the presence of something of an idol.

Then there’s the chat itself. Starting with a discussion of the “neo-Liberal” reform of Mexico city, it’s a conversation between two highly intelligent people about the insidious control of modern capitalism.

It’s almost 12 minutes long, and every single second of it is worth your time. Not just as a document of an era, but as a reminder of how smart, informed and genuinely revolutionary mainstream music can — and should — be.