An extraordinary lineup of musicians joined Tom Morello, guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave and a longtime political activist, for his Power to the People Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, on October 3.
Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews, Joan Baez, Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, Nathaniel Rateliff, Dropkick Murphys, Jack Black, Mike McCready, Matt Cameron, Stephen Stills, Geezer Butler, Scott Ian, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and others performed across the venue’s two stages.
Some artists played full sets, while others appeared as part of one-off ensembles or joined fellow artists throughout the day, making the festival as much about the unexpected combinations as the individual performances.
As Morello noted at the start of the festival, the performers spanned generations, from his 15-year-old guitarist son, Roman Morello, to 85-year-old folk icon Joan Baez. The lineup also included 17 members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Power to the People was conceived around what Morello called “peace, justice, solidarity, music and community action,” and it was no coincidence that it took place exactly one month before the 2026 midterm elections and just outside Washington, D.C. A portion of ticket proceeds benefited VoteRiders and HeadCount, organizations that promote voter registration and turnout, while the festival’s Freedom Village brought fans together with groups supporting civil liberties, humanitarian aid and other causes.
Although the festival was billed as nonpartisan, much of the messaging from the stages — and from the crowd, which erupted in chants throughout the day — was unmistakably directed at President Donald Trump, his administration and ICE. But the festival’s message was broader than opposition to any one politician or a conventional get-out-the-vote rally. Morello has said voting is only one part of political engagement, and the day repeatedly returned to the idea that participation also means organizing, protesting, creating art and holding elected officials accountable.
Killer Mike made that point directly. He urged the audience to vote in the coming local elections and hold the people they elect accountable — from school boards to county commissions — reminding the crowd that “this republic is ran by you.”
The festival wasn’t entirely about politics; there were some lighter moments. One of the afternoon’s most entertaining performances came from Jack Sabbath, Jack Black’s Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne tribute project. Wearing a fringed “Ozzy” top, Black led a young backing band featuring Roman Morello on guitar, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian’s son Revel on bass, Hugo Weiss on keys and Japanese drumming sensation Yoyoka Soma. After “Mr. Crowley” and “The Wizard,” Black introduced an unexpected guest — original Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, who joined the young musicians for “War Pigs.”
But the political messaging remained strong throughout the day. Early on, grandson performed “Oh No!!!,” with its refrain about a felon president, followed by Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War.” Later, he introduced actors portraying Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, connected by a leash. The festival livestream cut away as they appeared.
Morello also acknowledged the absence of Irish rap trio Kneecap, who had been invited to participate but were denied U.S. visas. He suggested the decision was tied to the group’s political activism, telling the crowd that the government had warned, “Under no circumstances may you have Kneecap as any part of your roster.” Morello responded with the familiar Rage Against the Machine refrain, “F— you, I won’t do what you tell me,” then screened the video for “Unconquered,” his collaboration with the group, ensuring that Kneecap still had a presence at the festival.
Macklemore also appeared in a recorded message addressing humanitarian crises in Gaza, Sudan and Congo. “None of us are free,” he said, “until all of us are free.”
When Morello took the stage himself, he opened with “Soldier in the Army of Love,” an activist anthem about music as a force for resistance and social change. Morello has described history not as something that simply happens to people but something ordinary people help make, a theme he returned to throughout the day.
His set brought together musicians from rock, metal and hip-hop, including grandson, System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, members of Public Enemy and Cypress Hill, DMC, Scott Ian, Jack Black and Dave Grohl. Some combinations had their own history: Chuck D and B-Real briefly reunited with Morello as members of Prophets of Rage, while Tankian’s performance of Audioslave’s “Like a Stone” became a tribute to the late Chris Cornell. Morello also returned to Rage Against the Machine with “Killing in the Name,” which brought the crowd to its feet.
Suns of Soundgarden also brought together Taylor Momsen, Mike McCready, Matt Cameron, Robbie Mangano and Morello for a short tribute to Soundgarden.
The song choices showed how relevant decades-old protest music remains. Dave Matthews’ set drew Joan Baez, Nathaniel Rateliff, Stephen Stills and Morello for material rooted in the American protest tradition, including Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),” written about migrant workers killed in 1948, which felt just as relevant as the Dropkick Murphys’ “Citizen ICE.” Meanwhile, younger acts including The Neighborhood Kids and The Linda Lindas showed that American protest music was not limited to an older generation.
Foo Fighters brought one of the day’s most pointed political jokes when Dave Grohl dedicated “My Hero” to “my new friend Jack,” a reference to former special counsel Jack Smith, who was at the festival wearing a Bruce Springsteen “No Kings” shirt. Grohl, meanwhile, wore an Iowa Hawkeyes shirt, an apparent jab at Republican Senator Eric Schmitt, who recently tried to use Smith’s attendance at a basketball game to suggest misconduct, only to confuse the Atlanta Hawks with the Iowa Hawkeyes. After photos of Smith at the festival circulated online, Trump attacked him again on Truth Social, calling him “Deranged Jack Smith” and a “Crooked Prosecutor.”
Springsteen kicked off his headlining set solo with “Streets of Minneapolis,” written after Renée Good and Alex Pretti were fatally shot by federal immigration agents earlier this year. He praised “the power and the solidarity of the people of Minneapolis, of Minnesota,” adding that their response had shown the country that “this is still America, and this will not stand.”
Springsteen’s criticism of Trump has become increasingly direct during Trump’s second term. Their public feud escalated during Springsteen’s 2025 European tour, when Springsteen denounced the administration as “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous.” Trump responded by calling Springsteen “highly overrated,” a “pushy, obnoxious JERK” and a “dried out prune of a rocker.”
Springsteen was soon joined by several of the artists who had appeared earlier in the day. Baez, Morello, Matthews, Rateliff and Grohl returned at different points for songs by Bob Dylan, The Clash, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Neil Young before the most of the day’s performers assembled for the finale.
Performers crowded the stage for Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” sung with the less frequently performed verses addressing private property and Americans waiting for relief, before closing with John Lennon’s “Power to the People.” The timing carried additional historical significance: Guthrie died on October 3, 1967, exactly 59 years before the festival.
The festival’s emphasis on activism also had a deeply personal connection for Morello. He paid tribute to his mother, Mary Morello, who died in July at 102. A teacher and lifelong activist, she fought segregation, supported labor and civil rights causes and later founded Parents for Rock and Rap as a response to efforts to censor popular music. She was also a formative political influence on her son.
Her family has continued that work through the Mary Morello Memorial Project, which supports organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, the United Farm Workers Foundation, the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and the Center for Native American Youth. The project encourages people to “do as Mary did”: volunteer, protest, speak up, make political art and help people in their own communities.
The remarkable pairings were part of the fun — Geezer Butler playing “War Pigs” with a group of teenagers, Serj Tankian singing Chris Cornell with the entire audience singing along, Baez and Springsteen, Grohl and Morello – but Power to the People was always meant to be more than an all-star concert. The festival’s mission was always front and center: people from different generations, genres and backgrounds coming together around a shared purpose.
For an audience living through a period of anger, anxiety and political division, the festival was, as Joan Baez described, “a magnificent antidote.”
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