Tom Morello’s Power To The People Festival Unveils Star-Studded Lineup and Historic One-Off Collaborations

Tom Morello has hosted the inaugural edition of his Power To The People festival, which featured several major one-off collaborations with Jack Black, Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen, and other artists. Highlights from the performance are captured throughout this report.

The festival took place at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, on Saturday, October 3, and was curated by the Rage Against The Machine guitarist to be a “day of peace, love, justice and music”.

Back in May, it was confirmed that Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Joan Baez, System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian, Dave Matthews, Brittany Howard, Dropkick Murphys, Jack Black, Cypress Hill, Killer Mike, and others were on the bill, with a second wave of names announced last month, including Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler, Anthrax’s Scott Ian, and Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready.

Held to “bring together artists, fans, activists, organisations and community leaders for an unforgettable day celebrating the power of music and collective action to inspire change”, the event delivered several unique collaborations when it kicked off early Saturday.

One of the biggest moments came when acting legend Jack Black took the stage alongside Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Cypress Hill, Tom Morello, Public Enemy’s Chuck D, and Anthrax’s Scott Ian to perform a cover of Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’.

Black also performed earlier in the day, joining Morello’s son Roman, Scott Ian’s son Revel, and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler for a cover of ‘War Pigs’.

Foo Fighters performed ‘Times Like These’, ‘All My Life’, ‘The Pretender’, ‘My Hero’, ‘Best of You’, and ‘Everlong’, as well as a cover of ‘Young Man Blues’ (originally written by Mose Allison but famously covered by The Who).

Frontman Dave Grohl also joined Morello to collaborate on a cover of KISS’ ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’, and he addressed the crowd — recalling his time campaigning for Attorney General and former United States Secretary of State John Kerry, and giving a shout-out to his “new friend, Jack”, presumed to be former assistant US attorney and special counsel Jack Smith, who was seen in the audience (via Consequence).

One of the most star-studded moments came at the very end of the night during an all-star jam session. It began with Springsteen on stage solo, performing his politically charged ‘Streets Of Minneapolis’, before inviting Baez to join him to cover ‘Chimes Of Freedom’ by Bob Dylan.

Later, Morello joined them to perform The Clash’s ‘Clampdown’ and ‘The Ghost Of Tom Joad’, and they were subsequently joined by Dave Matthews and Nathaniel Rateliff to play Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Fortunate Son’.

Dave Grohl then joined the all-star jam, performing Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’, before all other performers came out for a final medley of Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Your Land’ and John Lennon’s ‘Power to the People’.

A portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales, plus 100 per cent of the net proceeds from VIP tickets, were donated to VoteRiders and HeadCount. The former is a pro-democracy, pro-voter organization working to restore and strengthen democracy by eliminating confusing and restrictive ID-related barriers to the ballot box. The latter is a charity that helps fans register to vote and learn more about how to participate in upcoming elections.

Additional footage from the festival is presented below.

Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl et Tom Morello réunis sur « Rockin’ in the Free World » de Neil Young.

Power to the People Festival — Columbia, Maryland, 3 octobre 2026. pic.twitter.com/pWsegz3cq0

— Cap’tain Bob (@BobTharin) October 4, 2026

“The ‘Power To The People’ festival is about freedom, justice, equality and rock and roll,” said Morello in a statement. “It’s about the power everyday human beings have when they come together through music, art, community, and action. We’re honoured to bring this incredible lineup to the DC area for a day that celebrates the spirit of activism, creativity, and hope.”

Shortly before the festival kicked off, Morello released his new solo album, ‘Everyone Gets Everything They Want’, which features a collaboration with Kneecap on ‘Unconquered’.

Last summer, the guitarist — a longtime critic of President Trump — shared a “Fuck ICE” playlist, and he was one of the many figures from the entertainment world to attend the anti-ICE protests.

In 2024, he spoke to NME backstage at Download Festival about the power of music to spark political change, while listing his all-time favourite protest songs, and earlier this year, Morello used his set at Download 2026 to send a message to the British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

Since then, he has also teamed up with Serj Tankian for the powerful single ‘Adjourn It’, and spoken to NME again about working with Kneecap on his new solo record.

“I’ve been a fan since their inception. I saw the Kneecap movie long before any of the political controversy and thought what a great fucking group,” he said. “I’m named after Thomas Fitzgerald, my Irish great-grandfather, so the blood of Irish rebels runs in my veins too. The fact that a group so fearlessly aligns with the world’s oppressed as part of who they are as a band is something that’s near and dear to my heart. I see a kinship with Kneecap. They’re not just a great group — they stand up for the oppressed and they’ve got my vote.”

The collaboration with Springsteen at the one-day festival comes on the heels of Morello touring with The Boss on the legendary artist’s ‘Land Of Hope And Dreams’ US tour this year.

Source link