Dead & Company and Rage Against The Machine call for abortion access at recent shows

Karma Oak

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade last month, musicians and bands have been speaking out against the court's ruling and in favor of abortion access and reproductive rights both onstage and off, including Kendrick Lamar, Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, Phoebe Bridgers, Margo Price, Margaret Glaspy, and more. Dead & Company and Rage Against The Machine both joined their number, highlighting the issue at recent shows. During their Friday (7/8) show at Virginia's Jiffy Lube Live, Dead & Company projected images of protestors, followed by the message "SAVE OUR RIGHTS," during their performance of "Throwing Stones," Pitchfork points out. See fan-taken photo and video clips below.

Rage Against the Machine played their first show in 11 years at East Troy, WI's Alpine Valley Music Theatre on Saturday (7/9), where Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that they slammed the Supreme Court:

One of their largest targets Saturday, not surprisingly, was the U.S. Supreme Court, specifically the court's overturning of Roe v. Wade June 24.

“Forced birth in a country that is the only wealthy country in the world without any guaranteed paid parental leave at the national level,” read a caption on the screen as Zack de La Rocha unleashed growls, “yeahs” and calls for “freedom” over guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk’s accelerating rhythm.

“Forced birth in a country where Black birth-givers experience maternal mortality two to three times higher than that of white birth-givers,” the captions continued. “Forced birth in a country where gun violence is the number one cause of death among children and teenagers.”

And then, in all caps: “ABORT THE SUPREME COURT.”

See video clips of that below, as well.

RATM's 2022 dates wrap up with five shows at NYC's Madison Square Garden on August 8, 9, 11, 12, and 14. Dead & Company's summer tour hits NYC later this month, on July 15 and 16 at Citi Field.

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