“Rage Against The Machine throwin’ down as they always do!”: Rob Trujillo pays tribute to old friends RATM following New York show

Metallica’s Robert Trujillo and Rage Against The Machine’s Zack de la Rocha

(Image credit: Scott Legato/Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Metallica bassist Rob Trujillo paid tribute to Rage Against The Machine after the rap-metal icons’ show at New York’s Madison Square Gardens.

Posting a backstage photo of himself with Rage bassist Tim Commerford on Instagram, Trujillo wrote: “Timmy C killed it last night! So nice to catch up w/ the mighty groove master, and his tribe. Madison Square Garden got a funkified Ass kickin’ (in the best way) Rage throwin down as they always do!

Trujillo also referenced the fact that RATM toured with his pre-Metallica band Suicidal Tendencies in the early 1990s.

“I was so proud of these dudes last night, they did there first ever tour opening for Suicidal just before the release of their first record in Europe, and here they are 30 years later selling out 5 shows at The Garden.”

Rage opened for the LA hardcore band in Europe in late 1992, while the bill was flipped a year later when both Suicidal and their side project Infectious Grooves (also featuringTrujillo on bass) opened for Rage in the wake of the success of their debut album.

However relations between Suicidal Tendencies/Infectious Grooves frontman Mike Muir and RATM became strained, resulting in Infectious Grooves recording the song Do What I Tell Ya on their third album, 1994’s Groove Family Cyco – a dig at RATM’s Killing In The Name, with its key line, ‘Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me.’

Rage Against The Machine were recently forced to cancel their European tour, including headlining slots at the UK’s Reading And Leeds festivals, after Zack de la Rocha reportedly tore his ACL (Achilles Cruciate Ligament). The injury happened during a show in Chicago on the second date of the band’s much-delayed comeback tour. The singer was subsequently forced to perform the rest of the set and their remaining US dates while seated in a chair.

The band said in a statement: “Per medical guidance, Zack De La Rocha has been advised that the August and September 2022 UK and European leg of the Rage Against The Machine tour cannot proceed. It is with great disappointment that we announce this cancellation.