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Rage Against The Machine, the caustic rap-rock outfit from Los Angeles, are scheduled to smash the noise ordinances with L.A.Rising, the group’s ambitious music festival set to take place on July 30. However there’s an entirely different reason why fans might want to make sure they are at L.A. Coliseum. It could be the last show for Zack De La Rocha and Company as Rage Against The Machine.

Three out of the four RATM band members spoke with Kevin & Bean from KROQ about a wide array of subjects, including the vision for L.A. Rising as well as discussing how they might not ever perform another show. The only scheduled gig for the band is their L.A. Rising date. According to the group it’s most like the last show they will perform.

The activist-festival this year marks the band’s twentieth anniversary and will include artists who have similar political values.

Guitarist Tom Morello said, one thing Los Angeles doesn’t have is their own festival. LA Rising is our show. There isn’t a festival that asks us to perform a show. This is Rage Against The Machine’s show. We wanted something established for our hometown. Kind of like the Coliseum’s Ground Zero. The band and this city have a really special relationship.

The dream bill lined up by Rage includes Right Against and Muse in addition to El Gran Silencio, Lauryn Hill and Immortal Technique, the outspoken incendiary rapper. L.A. Rising isn’t just about music. All of the artists involved in the historic event want to help raise awareness regarding the social issues that plague the increasingly volatile and insanely overpopulated Los Angeles. In addition the venue will have a Re-Education Camp set up to help the movement.

Morello continued, it’s our show. It seems like a lifetime ago when we played at the Coconut Teaser. It’s a place where you get to pick the band. You are the headliner, and you know, you choose the bands for the bill.

What about the often repeated statement from bassist Tim Commerford that the final show for Rage would be at L.A. Rising? Although the wacky morning hosts found the subject to be amusing, the sentiment has been repeated often and is something fans should certainly be concerned about.

If Rage is going out, they are certainly planning to leave with a bang. Morello said, there will be nearly a million watts worth of power. This band is made to play in a big room. Many times people say, I want to go back into the theaters. That is where we can connect with the fans the most comfortably. Not for us. Bring it.

There is one thing for sure. If this isn’t the final performance for Rage Against The Machine, their credibility will be seriously hurt. After many years of responses that have been notoriously vague about any details concerning the band’s future, to talk about a permanent breakup in order to sell festival show tickets is manipulative, deceptive and unconscionable for their fans. Their very same fans that remained faithful through an entire decade of inactivity even though the need was even greater for fire starter political anthems from the band than ever before.