Tom Morello's Occupy SXSW Shut Down by Cops

Photo: http://tinyurl.com/8xfkuct

By Benjy Eisen
Rolling Stone
March 17, 2012

http://www.readersupportednews.org/news-section2/440-occupy/10494-tom-morellos-occupy-sxsw-shut-down-by-cops

When Tom Morello took the stage at the Swan Dive in
Austin on Friday night, he chose to convert what
otherwise would've been just another SXSW-only showcase
into a true Occupy gathering - an event which he
described as "Occupy SXSW," and which he organized in
conjunction with Occupy Austin. Morello informed the
crowd - which primarily consisted of SXSW badge holders
- that, just outside the bar, a "people's stage" had
been erected to broadcast the show on the street for
Occupy protestors and the general public at large.

Inside the Swan Dive, Morello initially performed by
himself, armed with his acoustic guitar. "I'm the
Nightwatchman and this is a one man revolution!" he
said, performing solo before inviting his new band, the
Freedom Fighter Orchestra, to join him for a set of
heavy burners and protest songs.

He played "Save the Hammer for the Man," "The Garden of
Gethsemane," and "Union Town" from the Nightwatchman's
catalog, eliciting cheers from crowds both inside and
outside the tiny venue. "I'm going to dedicate this
next one to a friend of mine who some of my anarchist
friends describe as the only boss worth listening to,"
Morello said, launching into a cover of Bruce
Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad" - which he had
performed with Springsteen as a special guest the
previous night. Morello then brought up a guest of his
own, guitarist and MC5 co-founder Wayne Kramer, for a
cover of the MC5's "Kick Out the Jams."

As last call came around, Morello instructed the
audience as to what would happen next: "I'm the pied
piper of folk rock," he said. "I'm going to walk
outside ... follow my guitar." Sure enough, a large
crowd was already gathered outside, many members of
which were Occupy Austin protestors who had been
watching the show on a screen above the venue's
marquee, along with others who had been shut out of the
Swan Dive because they didn't have SXSW credentials.
"Now we're all one!" Morello proclaimed. He then
honored what would've been Woody Guthrie's 100th
birthday by performing a cover of "This Land is Your
Land" with Kramer and random delegates from the general
assembly. He implored the crowd to sing along, as
loudly as they could.

"I've heard the police are going to pull the plug any
minute," he said. "That doesn't matter to me." When the
police did, in fact, shut down the PA system, Morello
stood in the center of the crowd and addressed them
using the Occupy "mic check" method, having the people
in the front repeat his message to those in the back.
Teaching the crowd the chorus to his "World Wide Rebel
Songs," Morello performed acoustic without a mic, but
with a mic check instead.

"Frankly, I play a lot of shows like that, that are
very unscripted," Morello told Rolling Stone after the
cops shut down the gathering. "Whether it's with the
Occupy movement or with different activist-oriented
events. There's very little planning, there's often no
PA, and the cops often pull the plug. It was a very
inspiring night."

On his way out of the venue after load-out, he said
that even though it's been a crazy week for him with
lots of SXSW activities - and with a daytime set
planned at Rolling Stone's Rock Room on Saturday - he
still wasn't heading home for the night just yet.
Instead, he had an Irish Car Bomb (the drink) in his
immediate future, as he planned to celebrate the start
of St. Patrick's Day. Excusing himself to kick off the
festivities, he said, "It's my favorite holiday."

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