Rage Against the Machine Rocks Lollapalooza

Chicago's Lollapalooza music festival was shaken to its grungy core Saturday night as guerilla rock veterans Rage Against the Machine took the stage in true Rage fashion.

The band, who headlined the festival alongside Radiohead, Wilco, Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails, was the most chaotic show of the entire three-day festival, reported the Chicago Tribune.

Before the band broke up in 2000, it was known for its energetic and politically charged performances, and since its reunion in 2007, nothing has changed. Their performance at Lollapalooza was turbulent to say the least. According to the Chicago Tribune, fans "crushed the stage," the concert was stopped three times, and at one point, a stampede of Rage fans charged one of the perimeter gates.

Led by vocalist Zach De La Rocha, the band held nothing back, dishing out its own brand of political commentary and criticism of past, present and even future administrations. Evidently assuming that Barack Obama would be the country's next president, De La Rocha demanded that "Brother Obama" pull troops out of Iraq.

There were three occasions when the band had to stop playing, reported the Chicago Tribune, due to an uncontrollable crowd. "We've already had a few people hurt," De La Rocha said in between songs. "Unless we get together and help . . . we're going to cut it short."

Chaos really kicked into gear when over a hundred Rage fans outside on Columbus Drive stormed one of the venue's gates during the show. Security had opened up the gate to allow people to leave, but for those outside, it was an open invitation. While some managed to infiltrate the festival by quickly disappearing into the crowd, the majority of the group was stopped in their tracks by police, reported the Chicago Tribune.

While the Lollapalooza sold out completely this year, the volume of people took its toll on the festival's strained infrastructure, causing organizers to look into a smaller festival for next year.