April 13th marks the anniversary of a momentous event in the history of nu metal: Rage Against the Machine's first (and only) performance on Saturday Night Live. While the storied late night variety program is still going strong 51 years into its run, it's hard to overstate just how much of a cultural force the show was during its heyday, before the rise of streaming and social media signaled the death of the monoculture.
In a truly head-scratching pair-up, Rage was booked as musical guests on an episode hosted by two-time Republican presidential candidate and billionaire Steve Forbes. Yes, the guy who runs Forbes magazine. While this was during an era when the show remained fairly apolitical—high-energy physical comedy-based characters like the Spartan cheerleaders, Mary Katherine Gallagher, the Roxbury guys debuted during this season—it's hard to imagine a more tone-deaf pairing of host and musical act. Maybe this was the show's way of giving airtime to both sides.
Either way, the result was chaos. Tensions backstage came to a head mere moments before the band took the stage. After the performance the band was immediately escorted off the premises. Guitarist Tom Morello took to social media to recount the debacle.
Today’s the 30th anniversary of RATM’S um, ‘memorable’ performance on SNL.
There was a fight onstage between our crew and SNL stage hands moments before our performance, wrestling over some upside down American flags which adorned our amps.
Timmy C then attacked host/billionarie/presidential candidate Steve Forbes’ family in the dressing room with a wadded up flag. Secret Service flooded the hallways. SNL cut (censored?) our second song and kicked us out onto the sidewalk.
Evil Empire entered the Billboard Album Chart at #1.
Elsewhere, Morello has stated, "RATM wanted to stand in sharp juxtaposition to a billionaire telling jokes and promoting his flat tax by making our own statement."
The performance itself was classic Rage. The band tore through "Bulls on Parade" the lead single from their upcoming album, Evil Empire. Hats off to whomever was handling the mix that night—the band sounded fantastic. Even casual SNL fans know the show's acoustics can be particularly unforgiving. To the band's credit, whatever duress lingered from the backstage turmoil channeled into a ferocious performance that no doubt helped propel Evil Empire to its number one slot on the Billboard charts three days later. It didn't even matter that the band was not allowed to play a second song that night. In a way, the band had already said everything they needed to say.
This would be the last time Rage Against the Machine graced the stage at 30 Rock, joining the ranks of such hallowed acts as Elvis Costello, The Replacements, Cypress Hill, and Sinéad O’Connor. Pretty good company.
While official footage of RATM on SNL has all but been wiped from existence—Forbes's opening monologue and select sketches are still readily available on the show's official YouTube page, however—some good Samaritan has kindly uploaded the full performance for posterity. Check it out below:
%3A%20Rage%20Against%20The%20Machine%20Get%20Banned%20Saturday%20Night%20Live){kind=link}