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Three days after undergoing surgery on his broken hand, Tom Morello was back onstage in Stockholm, Sweden, performing live with Prophets of Rage, the supergroup/“elite task force of revolutionary musicians” featuring members of Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill. During the band’s Tuesday set, the guitarist got a hand, literally, from an audience member who jumped onstage to play guitar on Rage Against the Machine’s “Bulls on Parade.”
“Last Thursday, I fractured my hand and broke it in two,” Morello said from the stage. “And my doctor said, ‘There’s no way you guys are going to be able to go on tour. I said, ‘There are some crazy-ass motherfuckers in Sweden who need to see this shit.” The guitarist, noting that his “arm’s getting a little tired right now,” asked the crowd who could tackle some Rage Against the Machine material. Fan Mike Svensson hopped onstage and launched into the band’s 1996 hit, nailing the song’s distorted funk-metal riffs, chunky wah-wah and warped hip-hop scratching effects.
Svensson thanked the band members – Morello, B Real, Chuck D, Tim Commerford, Brad Wilk and DJ Lord – after the show on social media. “What i did tonight? I hung out with @tommorello and @prophetsofrage,” he wrote on Instagram, along with a backstage selfie. “Thanks so much @djlord, @slimrichardson1 and all of you guys for making this for me.”
Two days after suffering the fracture, Morello tweeted a gruesome photo of his hand mid-surgery with a steel insertion. “Fractured my playing hand on Thursday. Surgery today. Will be onstage in Sweden Tuesday,” he wrote, adding a hashtag reference to late jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, who developed a unique, three-finger technique after suffering partial paralysis in his hand.
Prophets of Rage’s European tour concludes July 14th in Viveiro, Spain. On July 22nd, the band will launch a North American leg in Mansfield, Massachusetts alongside Avenged Sevenfold.
