Rage’s Sound Mesmerizes, but Was Its Message Received?

Casual and unassuming in a plain black sweatshirt and pants, Rage Against the Machine’s rapper Zack de la Rocha didn’t immediately suggest the anger-whipped political activist as he walked onstage at the Olympic Velodrome at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday.

But the crowd’s response was instantaneous: A writhing mosh pit swallowed almost the entire Velodrome as de la Rocha transformed himself from average guy to stormy militant. “Viva Zapatistas!” he cried in solidarity with the rebels in Chiapas as fans waved Mexico’s flag in the pit.

Crackling and convulsive, the members of Rage are mesmerizing performers, and teenagers who looked as if they’d be more comfortable at a prep school rally than a political huddle yelled with De la Rocha’s high, spit-sung raps on songs from the band’s new release, “Evil Empire”--songs that slam the rich and powerful, champion the underdog and call the radio “tha devil sound.”

The L.A.-based band, whose free Velodrome concert was a warmup for its European tour, is now a bona fide phenomenon. Its political agenda and furious, spiky, hip-hop/metal fusion initially seemed a longshot for even alternative radio play, and its fervor appeared destined for a cozy contingent of skate rats and seething university radicals. But KROQ-FM (106.7) embraced its mix and got the ball rolling, and its 1992 debut album sold several million copies worldwide.

The band takes cues from masters of musical crossbreeding and pointed anger. De la Rocha’s words hark back to Public Enemy, guitarist Tom Morello’s post-punk melodies nod to the Beastie Boys, and bassist Tim Bob’s bottom-heavy metal grinds owe a lot to Black Sabbath.

But the band’s success ultimately hinges on its message of economic and cultural revolt--and here the returns are still out. As the Velodrome fans jostled each other with a vengeance and one growled a racial epithet at another, you had to wonder whether they really took the group’s ideas to heart. Rage Against the Machine’s next big hurdle is to convince its fans that selecting the “rage” means they’re embracing only half of the band’s potent ideology.