Rage Against the Machine keeps promise and schedules free London concert

(HMG) – Rage Against the Machine is keeping their promise to English fans who voted their 1992 hit ‘Killing in the Name’ (awesome song) on top of the U.K. Christmas charts, with a free concert in north London. The rap-rockers have  scheduled a concert at Finsbury Park on Sunday 6 June, with tickets to be issued by lottery.

They are calling it The Rage Factor, a nod to Simon Cowell and his X Factor protege Joe McElderry, who RATM’s fans displaced from the top spot, because of their grassroots campaign. Users can register for the lottery at a new website, theragefactor.co.uk.

“A historic grassroots rebellion made our song Killing in the Name the number one [UK] Christmas single of 2009,” wrote guitarist Tom Morello in a statement. “The people of the UK toppled the X Factor giant, raised a great deal of money for homeless charities, and shocked the world. As a thank you to our UK fans and freedom fighters we promised to play a free show. Well … here we come … The celebration/party/revolution is ON!!”

They promise a “massive gig with a full supporting bill of artists”, but none of the other acts have yet been announced. Morello originally said he wanted McElderry to play the show, with Cowell hosting. Neither have commented on the free concert.

There is room for 40,000 people at Finsbury Park, and tickets will be assigned at random to those who register at the site.  Tickets for the event will be distributed in a ballot system – fans have until 14 February (10) to register their details for the ticket lottery.

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