Over the weekend, Tom Morello made Maryland his home for his inaugural Power the People festival, and the stage was a hotbed for six-string talent.
The event was described as “a day of peace, love, justice and music,” and Morello wasn’t shy in asking his industry friends to back his cause. From rock heavyweights Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, and Soundgarden, to Dave Matthews and oodles of special guests, it was a day full of highlights at the Merriweather Post Pavilion.
Dave Grohl led the Foos through a seven-song set of classics. But they also had a surprise up their sleeve, covering Mose Allison’s Young Man Blues with the Preservation Hall Jazz Bands Ben Jaffe.
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Dave Matthews’ short, acoustic set was bookended with a cover of Marvin Gaye’s Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology). Springsteen too got in on the covers, bringing Matthews out for a run of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song, Fortunate Son.
Matthews remained on stage as Grohl stepped in, his signature ES-335 in hand, to cover Neil Young’s Rockin in the Free World. He had also covered Bob Dylan’s Chimes of Freedom with Joan Baez, and the Clash’s Clampdown with Tom Morello.
Practically every big name involved was on the stage for Springsteen’s finale, a cover of the John Lennon song that gave the festival its name. Posting a clip of that spot on its socials, the festival page said it was “a stage of one too many legends to count.”
Then there were more surprising crossovers, like Jack Black putting on a full Black Sabbath tribute set with Geezer Butler, fresh from his appearance on the new Mastodon record. They were joined by Roman Morello (Tom’s son), who was playing a Randy Rhoads-inspired polka dot V. Anthrax’s thrash wizard Scott Ian, meanwhile, gave Cypress Hill a little more cut and thrust.
Having played an NFL halftime show in their native Seattle last month, Soundgarden – billed here as the Sons of Soundgarden – made another appearance. Morello filled in for the absent Kim Thayil, wielding both his Arm the Homeless guitar, and an Iommi-esque black Gibson SG for cuts like Spoonman and Outshined.
“To every artist, activist, organization, partner, volunteer and fan who made Power to the People possible, thank you,” Morello wrote on Instagram after the event.
His own set included covering Kiss with Dave Grohl, and Audioslave’s Like a Stone with Serj Tankian. Oh, and he smashed through Killing in the Name with his son.
“The music may be over,” he added. “But the work continues.”
Money raised from the event is set to help fund pro-democracy and voting rights organizations, grassroots organizing, and mutual aid groups.
The event came after Morello curated Ozzy’s final show, Back to the Beginning, and teamed up with Al De Meola to stand against ICE.
